THE Port of Ramsgate is likely to allow the export of live animals to the Continent, the Isle of Thanet Gazette can reveal.

An e-mail to a concerned animal welfare group from Thanet council's commercial services manager Mark Seed said the local authority was "under threat of legal action" to allow the service, but no permission to load live animals had yet been given due to docking practicalities.

Describing the transportation as "like baked beans, only live animals", he said: "We provide a berth for a boat and the ability to have a loading quay. We've been told in no uncertain terms that is the only role we play."

Transeuropa, which currently operates a mainly freight ferry service to Ostend, is not behind the moves to start live animal exports – but Thanet council refused to reveal which company has threatened legal action.

The port of Dover, where live animal exports currently take place from, fought a costly legal battle to try to prevent the service.

In his e-mail Mr Seed said: "There is next to no legal basis on which we can refuse the use of the port for this purpose. To say the council are unhappy about this situation is a significant understatement."

Mr Seed estimated that refusal to allow the service could cost "hundreds of thousands of pounds" in legal fees and damages, adding: "Action at the port is unlikely to change anything and is likely to prejudice other operations at the port."

He said the council's only responsibility lay with the safety of ships' docking and that the condition of animals at ports is controlled by the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs.