Dover traffic delays - live: French MP blames Brexit for chaos as queues form for second day
Busiest travel weekend since 2019 kicks off as school holidays begin
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French politician Pierre-Henri Dumont, Republican MP for Calais, has blamed the UK’s exit from the EU for the travel chaos, as holidaymakers joined lengthy queues in Dover for the second day running.
Mr Henri Dumont told BBC News it was “an aftermath of Brexit” with more checks needed and claiming the Dover port is “too small” with too few kiosks due to lack of space.
However, Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss blamed the delays on a lack of staffing by the French at the border. The foreign secretary said the delays and queues were “unacceptable” and called on France to act over the “entirely avoidable” delays.
It comes after travellers got stuck in queues for up to six hours in the Port of Dover on Friday at the start of the summer school holidays – which led to the port declaring a “critical incident”.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “As the schools closed their doors fully yesterday, Saturday could prove busier still this weekend.
“Drivers should continue to expect disruption and delays on major holiday routes to the south-west, eastern coast and ports of Dover and Folkestone.
“While many have decided to go at the start of the summer holidays, between now and the beginning of September when schools return, each Friday and Saturday will be busy on our roads because these are the main switchover days for holiday lets.”
Saturday also likely to be extremely busy, says Dover Port chief
The chief executive of the Port of Dover has described being “let down” by poor resourcing at the French border as “immensely frustrating”, as travellers faced lengthy queues at the beginning of their summer getaway.
Doug Bannister stopped short of guaranteeing the backlog would clear in the coming days, but pledged that officials are doing all they can to address issues.
Apologising for the situation on Friday - one of the busiest periods for foreign travel from the UK as most schools in England and Wales break up for summer - he said they had been “let down” by French authorities.
He told BBC News: “I am so sorry that the travellers we have going to the port today are being impacted.
“To be let down in the way that we have with inadequate resources and slow processes through the border is just immensely frustrating.
“We’ve shared in granular detail, on an hour-by-hour basis, the amount of traffic we were anticipating, so it was completely known what we needed to have in place at the French border.”
He said Saturday is also likely to be busy, adding it is “just the start of a very busy summer for us”.
Asked whether he can reassure travellers planning a trip over the coming days that the backlog will ease, he said: “I really wish I could - we’re putting all the attention we possibly can do on ensuring there will be enough resources in place to manage this very busy first weekend of the summer.”
Grant Shapps ‘working closely’ with France on Dover delays
Grant Shapps has said he is “working closely” with his French counterpart after a “critical incident” was declared by the Port of Dover because of six-hour-long queues.
The transport secretary tweeted: “There’s been severe delays today at Dover & so I’m working closely with my opposite number Clement Beaune to address the issues that caused tailbacks.
“I welcome his commitment that both Britain & France will work closely to minimise further disruption so people can get away quickly.”
British reports ‘must be corrected’ says Calais security chief
A statement by the prefect of the Hauts-de-France region – where Calais is situated – states that British media reports that French border police did not provide enough staff “must be corrected”.
The retaliatory statement by the region’s defence and security prefect Georges-Francois Leclerc was tweeted by the French embassy in the UK.
He said that staffing was provided but more than one hour later than originally planned.
It comes as Brits attempting to sail to France are reporting waits of about six hours in Dover at the beginning of the school holidays, for which Dover has blamed French authorities for “woefully inadequate staffing”.
Roads in Dover and Folkstone ‘could be busier’ on weekend
Holidaymakers are being warned that Saturday is expected to be even busier for travelling to Calais via Dover or Folkstone.
It comes after the beginning of the school holidays today saw travellers stuck in queues for up to six hours in Dover.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “As the schools closed their doors fully yesterday, Saturday could prove busier still this weekend.
“Drivers should continue to expect disruption and delays on major holiday routes to the south-west, eastern coast and ports of Dover and Folkestone.
“While many have decided to go at the start of the summer holidays, between now and the beginning of September when schools return, each Friday and Saturday will be busy on our roads.
“This is because these are the main switchover days for holiday lets.”
Foreign secretary criticises France for ‘unacceptable’ delays
The foreign secretary has labelled the delays and queues at Dover “unacceptable”, calling it an “entirely avoidable” situation after a “critical incident” was declared by the Port of Dover.
Liz Truss said in a statement: “This awful situation should have been entirely avoidable and is unacceptable.
“We need action from France to build up capacity at the border to limit any further disruption for British tourists and to ensure this appalling situation is avoided in future. We will be working with the French authorities to find a solution.”
Other Channel crossings are available amid Dover chaos
The problems faced by motorists seeking to leave Dover are not replicated at other Channel ports – where French border formalities take place at the destination, our travel correspondent Simon Calder writes.
Brittany Ferries says it has some availability on services from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth this weekend.
Paul Acheson, sales and marketing director for the French ferry firm said: “We feel for all holiday makers struggling with travel through Dover today, as well as our friends and colleagues at ferry companies operating on short-sea routes.
“Our message today is not that we want to profit from misfortune. However, services are running smoothly through our ports and for passengers who are really stuck or if problems persist in Dover this weekend, Brittany Ferries may be in a position to help.”
‘French border officials must turn up for work’ - Dover MP
Natalie Elphicke, Tory MP for Dover, has called on French border officers to “turn up for work tomorrow” following the chaos at the Kent port today.
She said: “It is critical that French border officials turn up for work tomorrow at the Port of Dover and that the passport controls are working at full capacity.
“Further significant delays are expected over the weekend.”
It comes after the port and British government blamed France for not having enough border staff. French authorities in turn blamed an “unforeseeable technical incident” in the Channel Tunnel – but Eurotunnel rejected this explanation.
A statement by Georges-Francois Leclerc, the defence and security prefect of the Hauts-de-France region – where Calais is situated – said that British media reports that French border police did not provide enough staff “must be corrected”.
He said that staffing was provided but more than one hour later than originally planned due to the “technical incident”.
How tomorrow’s papers are covering Port of Dover gridlock
Independent: Great summer getaway brought to a standstill
Guardian: Holiday border chaos could spill into weekend
Express: Quelle surprise! French ruin our summer holidays
i: Happy holidays. Love, France.
Financial Times: Row over post-Brexit border checks hit big holiday getaway
Mirror: Hols chaos – summer getaway hell
Telegraph: Truss tells France to fix holiday travel chaos
Daily Mail: Wish you weren’t here!
Dover traffic not yet eased at Friday midnight – pictures
It appears that the motorway traffic in and around the Port of Dover had yet to ease up just minutes before midnight – if motorway camera images are anything to go by.
Images taken by the cameras show long queues of cars, on the M20 at junctions 10 and 11, on what has been one of the busiest travel days of the year.
It comes after travellers got stuck in queues for up to six hours in Dover on Friday at the start of the school summer holidays.
This led to the port declaring a “critical incident” while the British and French officials blamed each other for the chaos.
The gridlock on Saturday and Sunday could be worse, the port and motoring groups such as the AA have warned.
Dover ‘expands border infrastructure’ in bid to ease chaos
The Port of Dover said it has put in place a range of temporary measures – including more booths for French border control officers and a refreshment stand for holidaymakers stuck in the traffic.
It says it hopes these improvements will help ease the travel chaos seen on Friday at the start of the school summer holidays, which is only expected to get worse over the weekend.
The port tweeted: “To keep waiting times to a minimum, we’ve installed 50% more booths for use by French border control.
“Internal traffic routes round the ports have been repositioned for improved vehicle flows.
“An expanded team of Passenger Champions will be on site to provide help and information.
“Enhanced amenities such as toilets and a refreshment stand will be available ahead of border control.”
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