MP ANGELA Smith today called for urgent talks over the proposed Shell Haven superport after P&O agreed to a £3.3billion takeover by a rival multi-national company.

The Labour MP for Basildon, whose constituency includes the site of the planned £1.5billion container port and business park, today described news of Dubai Ports World (DPW) taking control as "unsettling." The early signs are that the superport will still go ahead. But Mrs Smith is particularly concerned that negotiations over the developer funding a new access road do not falter.

DPW - owned by the Government of Dubai - sealed the takeover of P&O yesterday.

Published Wednesday, November 30, 2005