A £10M price tag and no funding has raised doubts over whether the giant white horse Ebbsfleet Landmark will ever reach the north Kent skyline.

Last week a spokesman for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project (ELP) board said the 50m tall horse is now expected to cost around £10m, which is £8m more than originally planned.

He also admitted the board does not know where the funding will come from, saying “we are casting our net as wide as possible” in the hope of finding organisations to provide the money.

Sponsors London and Continental Railways, Land Securities and Eurostar, which provided £1m to take the landmark through the planning phase, are “highly unlikely” to give any more money, he said.

The spokesman said: “It’s always a challenge to get the money as we are operating in the same economic environment as everyone else, but raising funds is just the next hurdle in the horse’s journey.

“It’s a world-class, unique project and we have planning permission and the technology to make it, so there is no reason why we cannot negotiate the funding we need.”

He could not give a fixed completion date for the landmark, but said: “We have planning permission for the next five years so we expect to complete the landmark before the end of that window.”

Councillor Bryan Read, Dartford Council’s cabinet member responsible for the regeneration of Swanscombe, which the landmark will overlook, believes ELP will struggle to get the funding.

He said: “I doubt that anyone will be able to stump up that amount of cash at the moment, with the financial situation in the country.

“Who is going to provide that kind of money when the statue does not provide anything for anyone and is not popular locally?”

Cllr Read also says he thinks it is “wrong” to spend £10m on a piece of art during a financial crisis, even if the money being used is from the private sector.

But Councillor Mike Snelling, leader of Gravesham Council, which gave ELP permission to build the statue in April, says he believes the landmark will provide a boost to north Kent.

He said: “I have always supported the concept of the landmark because I do not see it as a piece of art for its own sake, but a marketing tool to attract people to the area.”

The horse was designed by Turner Prize winning artist Mark Wallinger and will overlook the A2 from the Ebbsfleet Valley development, and its construction is expected to create up to 100 jobs.

At 50m tall and 56.9m long, the statue will be a 33-times lifesize sculpture of Mr Wallinger’s thoroughbred racehorse Riviera Red.