Miles of lorry queues in Kent again as businesses stockpile before Brexit

Up to five miles of lorry tailbacks seen at Folkestone on Saturday

Substantial queues of lorries stacked up again in Kent on Saturday as businesses faced Brexit uncertainty and dealt with the Christmas rush.

Pictures taken on Saturday morning show a long line of HGVs queuing for up to five miles on the M20, starting in the Ashford area and stretching to the Eurotunnel entrance at Folkestone.

There were also long lines of HGVs along the M20 between Capel-le-Ferne, the site of the Battle of Britain memorial on the White Cliffs, and the port of Dover.

The lengthening queues appeared to be caused by businesses stockpiling goods in an attempt to prepare for any cross-Channel disruption in January.

Lorries queue on 18 December to enter The Port of Dover in Kent as the clock ticks down on the chance for the UK to strike a deal before the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. (Gareth Fuller/PA)

With less than two weeks left for the UK and the EU to decide on the nature of their post-Brexit relationship, the absence of a deal has caused uncertainty among traders, with as many as 60 per cent of businesses in Kent estimated not to be prepared for the UK to crash out of the EU.

A lorry driver views the queue of lorries on the M20 as lorries wait to enter the Eurotunnel site in Folkestone, Kent, due to heavy freight traffic on 18 December. (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Lorries without the proper paperwork could be turned away from the border from 1 January.

Lorries queue to enter the Eurotunnel site in Folkestone, Kent, due to heavy freight traffic on 18 December 2020. (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Doug Bannister, chief executive of the port of Dover, said on Friday that he believed the port would be able to handle the uncertainty.

Lorries queue on the M20 motorway to enter the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone, Britain, on 18 December 2020. (Reuters/Peter Cziborra)

“Dover has a proven track record to handle disruption in a good, successful way, and we are able to manage the disruption and importantly recover the position very swiftly indeed,” he told the Press Association.  

Freight lorries queue to enter the port of Dover on the south coast of England on 18 December 2020 (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

He added that increased freight ahead of 31 December means that the first weeks of 2021 could be calmer.

Trucks queue on the A16 highway between Eurotunnel road access and Oye Plage, northern France on 18 December 2020. ( Reuters/Pascal Rossignol)

On Friday, widely circulated videos showed lorries queueing up for up to 20 miles in Folkestone amid multiple reports that businesses were stashing goods in the event of the UK and EU failing to agree a trade deal at the end of the Brexit transition period.

Lorries queue on the M20 motorway to enter the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone, Britain, on 18 December 2020. (Reuters/Peter Cziborra)

On Friday, the Irish premier, Micheal Martin, said “very significant difficulties” remained in Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU, with the fisheries continuing to prove a sticking point.

Additional reporting by PA