By Emma Rae Woodhouse, Reporter

Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh has given fresh hope to campaigners fighting to save Kent’s coastal landmark Goodwin sands in Dover, from being dredged.

After swimming more than 300 miles across the English Channel, Pugh addressed the conservative party conference to remind those in power that his struggle was in aid of marine conservation.

He used the example of Goodwin Sands as an area which “needs protection.”

The sand bed off the coast of Kent has been under consideration to become a marine conservation zone to protect the wildlife it homes such as seals which use the land to rest or mate as well as endangered birds, ross worms and blue mussels.

However, the decision made by the Marine Management Organisation to dredge the area for Dover harbour developments counteracts the protection the government were considering.

“Protection means protection.” Said Pugh.

Challenging the conservative party’s commitment to protecting the oceans he said: “So on one hand you want to protect this place, you want to build this incredible marine conservation zone.

“And yet on the other hand you want to dig it up?

“Protection must mean protection.”

Touching a nerve with his live audience and the people watching from home, the petition to save Goodwin Sands and the campaign group Facebook page has shot up in popularity.

Fiona Punter, co-founder of Goodwin Sands SOS said it is wonderful that her commitment to preserving Goodwin sands is now reaching a national audience.

“It was broadcast live and many people who may not have heard about the campaign in various parts of the country have suddenly became aware.

“When he spoke we got a huge boost on out Facebook page and petition.

Thanking Lewis for voicing her concerns to an audience of thousands she said: “It helps us as it gives us a very credible and very powerful person in this who is very impassioned, very honest and who is very straight talking, which is wonderful.”

The campaigner started her fight three years ago in an attempt to protect the remains of war battles that are buried deep below the sands.

She said: “For me personally I worked alongside the military for many years, and I was bought up on the sacrifice that people gave and the thought of them taking war graves where people’s relatives lie is abhorrent.

“You wouldn’t go trawling through a graveyard in Canterbury just for landfill. You just don’t do that.”

Thousands of shipwrecks also lie beneath the sands and in the great storm of 1700’s, vessels were believed to have sunk, including the notable warship: the Stirling Castle.

The petition currently holds 16,250 but as Pugh’s speech circulates the group hopes to gain hundreds more.

Petition: http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/goodwin-sands-sos-stop-the-dredge