The project, part of the Mersey Heartlands scheme, would have 10,000 new homes and be carbon neutral.

The government will announce the first 10 eco-towns next month. The developments will be on brownfield industrial sites and powered by locally generated sustainable energy sources.

Mersey Heartlands is being led by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council and Peel, whose Mersey Docks and Harbour Company subsidiary has large land holdings in the area.