SOUTHAMPTON Docks bosses today hit back after having yet another blow dealt to their plans for a £500m container port at Dibden Bay.

They were left smarting last year when the Countryside Agency, which is masterminding the national park plans, included the bay area in the provisional park boundary.

Now they have learnt that two nearby areas - made up of marshland - are included in a revised draft plan for the national park.

One is between Hythe and Fawley refinery and the other between the refinery and Calshot Spit.

Significantly, both areas are needed by Southampton Port operator Associated British Ports (ABP) to bolster its dredging plans if plans for the huge container terminal at Dibden Bay go ahead.

After the planned additions had been unveiled, harbourmaster and deputy port manager Jimmy Chestnutt, who has been a driving force behind the new dock scheme, said: "We are surprised that this area has been included in the latest proposed boundary for the national park.

"Although it is a new proposal, the Countryside Agency did not consult us before it published it and has not done so now. We do not know whether it has consulted Esso, Enichem and the other Waterside industries whose businesses may also be affected."

Agency staff said they are not targeting Dibden Bay to prevent it happening, and to protect the Forest from the scheme. New Forest countryside officer Emma Peete said that the two additional marshland areas were included because they fitted the criteria for the national park.