John Sisk is in line to manage the job, which will involve the steelworks tear-down, land remediation and refurbishment of existing warehouses.

Steel production furnaces and a large rolling mill on the 53-acre site have been left untouched since the specialist rebar steelworks was closed in 2012.

Now Peel through its Port of Sheerness operation plans to refurbish some existing warehouse space and create a 32-acre car parking area.

The demolition and disposal works are estimated to be worth up to £4m with a specialist remediation contract worth up to £7m also out to tender to deal with contaminated land, including infill of Thames Steel Works cooling ponds.

Civils works to create the large car park are worth up to £8m with Port of Sherness expecting to spend up to £12m on existing and new warehousing and £6m on new railhead infrastructure.