Dover disruption drags into third day for UK holidaymakers

Drivers at the Port of Dover in south-east England were braced for further delays on Sunday after setbacks for thousands of holidaymakers on Friday and Saturday.

Queuing times at the port were expected to be cut to an hour on Sunday after motorists were forced to wait for up to six hours on the previous two days.

But despite the reduction in waiting times, a “critical incident” declared by the port on Friday remained in place on Sunday, and Highways England warned of “severe delays”.

Gridlocked roads, frustrated drivers and delayed trips prompted a war of words between British and French authorities.

The UK accused France of failing to put enough border officials on desks at Dover to process people heading across the Channel, but Paris said the problems were caused by the Brexit hangover.

The closure of most schools in England and Wales last week for the summer break set people on their way overseas. There have also been huge queues at airports including Heathrow, Manchester and Bristol.

The Port of Dover said traffic was flowing at normal rates on Sunday morning. Many drivers travelled through the night to reach the port before their scheduled Channel crossing.

“French border is fully manned and everything is flowing normally,” a spokesman said. “There will be queues but short term [less than 60 minutes] during the day.”

He said the port will “continue to issue the need to come prepared” when asked whether people should still ensure they have appropriate water, food and medical supplies with them if travelling.

In the early hours of Sunday, a tweet from the port said the “system brought in temporarily to manage excess traffic in the area had ended and traffic can proceed directly to the port”.

Shortly before 9.30am, the port said tourist traffic was “moving slowly” through border controls with an average waiting time of 60 minutes.

“Freight flows are freely flowing,” it added.

About 72,000 vehicles had been processed by port officials by Sunday and 200 miles of traffic had been cleared.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said as the problems ease at Dover he feared the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone — 13 miles away — could become the next point of congestion.

He said issues at these “two very key terminals” would cause disruption for countless passengers.

Many in Britain whose trips were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic are keen to use up holidays vouchers.

The cost of living crisis has also added to the demand for travel as householders are uncertain if they will be able to afford to get away in the coming months.

“We’ve had lorries being stacked as part of Operation Brock on the M20 and the subsequent diversion now on to the A20,” Mr Cousens told Sky News. “They now meet each other at the terminal junction 11A and that is causing congestion.

“Our concern is that the Eurotunnel is now going to be the main problem of congestion, particularly in the south-east.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is battling with Rishi Sunak to become the next Conservative leader and prime minister, blamed France.

On Saturday, Ms Truss said she had spoken to her French counterpart Catherine Colonna about the disruption.

“I was clear the French authorities have not put enough people on the border and we need to see action from then to resolve the terrible situation which travellers, including families, are facing,” Ms Truss said.