The gateway is a 40-mile-wide area from London to Kent and Essex.

The Skills Audit report found the number of people with skills in the area is 20% below the national average.

The report warned that unless the problem was addressed, businesses could be forced to move elsewhere.

Almost 200,000 homes and thousands of new jobs and are set to be created by the redevelopment programme.

The Thames Gateway is a 40-mile-wide area from east and south-east London to Kent and Essex.

The report says 112,000 of the 194,000 new jobs that will be created by 2016 will need applicants with A-level and degree level qualifications.

"Compared to the rest of London and other parts of the UK, the Thames Gateway has a significant skills and jobs gap - particularly among local residents," the report said.

"The fact that participation in higher education amongst Thames Gateway residents is 20% below the national average accounts for a large part of the local skills deficit.

"If nothing is done to improve the skill levels of Thames Gateway residents, there is a danger that existing communities in the area will become unsustainable."

The report said a key challenge for the government and the Learning and Skills Council, which commissioned the report, was to raise the "skills levels of existing residents."