Credit:PA
The Port of Dover has attacked the French authorities for “woefully inadequate” border control staffing which is ruining the summer getaway for thousands of families.
A “critical incident” has been declared by the Kent port due to six-hour queues, with tourists urged to consider staying away.
It is one of the busiest periods for foreign travel from the UK as most schools in England and Wales break up for summer this week.
Passengers embarking on cross-Channel sailings from Dover must pass through French border checks before they can board a ferry.
Delays at Dover are causing tourist and freight traffic to be stuck on gridlocked roads in the area.
One Twitter user wrote shortly before 7am: “I’m booked onto 8am ferry from Dover and it’s total gridlock. Moved 50 metres per hour.
“At this rate it’ll be 34 hours before I get to the port!
“I have a screaming toddler and three-month-old.”
Another said they have been “waiting five hours and still not in the port”, adding: “Sat in lanes waiting to get to border control. Zero movement.”
Local Tory MP Natalie Elphicke has told BBC news that the critical incident at Dover is nothing to do with Brexit, but all to do with “French border officers not turning up to work and that’s why we’ve got these huge delays.”
However, Simon Calder explains why travel chaos has been caused by ending freedom of movement.
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