A BID to create a super 'Free Port' on the East coast following Brexit has been unveiled.

Public and private sector leaders have set out their joint vision for Freeport East, which would focus on the Port of Felixstowe and Harwich International Port.

It could mean that normal tax and customs rules do not apply and imports can enter with simplified customs documentation and no tariffs.

The ports, both owned by Hutchison Ports, would be a "strategic hub" linking UK importers and exporters with suppliers and customers across the world.

It is claimed that Freeport East will build on the existing ports’ "excellent road and rail links" but it could lead to increased traffic on the A120 to Harwich, which campaigners have been calling for to be dualled for years.

The vision has been set out jointly by business and local government leaders from Essex, Suffolk, and work is now underway to develop a detailed bid following the publication of the Government’s Freeports prospectus this week.

George Kieffer, chairman of the project board, said: “I am excited to be leading such a professional and expert team to drive forward a bid that will attract major investment and lead to increased economic prosperity not only locally, but nationally.

“The area is home to some of the most deprived wards in the UK and by bringing lasting regeneration and creating new job opportunities to the region the project will support the government’s levelling-up agenda.

“We look forward to working with universities in the region to make Freeport East a hotbed of innovation in the technologies of the 21st Century.”

Clemence Cheng, executive director of Hutchison Ports, added: “The combination of the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich offers the UK a unique opportunity in the post-Brexit world, sitting as they do at the main junction point between the UK's principal trade route to and from the Far East and key freight links to and from northern Europe."