A senior aide to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has dripped further hints that the country is planning to turn its Gulf rival Qatar into an island by digging a canal that will cut the peninsula off from the mainland.

The advisor appeared to confirm the Salwa Island project on Twitter as relations continue to deteriorate during a 14-month dispute between the two countries.

The £580 million canal would stretch the length of Qatar’s 37 mile border with Saudi Arabia and be 650 foot wide. Dug entirely within Saudi territory, it will leave a 0.6 mile sliver of land beside the Qatari border.

It has been reported that a new military base and a nuclear waste dump will be built as close to the Qatari border as possible but others claim the project is intended to open up shipping channels and “boost tourism”.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, the next host nation of the World Cup, in June last year and accused it of funding terrorism and being closely allied with Iran.

Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates also cut ties with Qatar, which found its land border closed, its state owned airline barred from its neighbours’ airspace and some of its nationals expelled.