Delays at Dover cause holiday misery
Holidaymakers heading to France via Dover are being warned to allow extra time for their journey to the port amid delays caused by heightened security checks and the busy getaway weekend.
There have been major tailbacks since Friday with some motorists complaining of being in queues for up to 14 hours.
The delays, at the start of the school holidays, are being worsened by tighter security checks being demanded by French border police at Dover and Eurotunnel following the recent terror attacks in France.
Tourists are being advised to try to avoid the M20/A20 and use the M2/A2 where possible.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is also telling holidaymakers to check travel conditions before setting out and during their journeys if possible.
On Sunday morning, the Port of Dover was warning of waiting times of 3 to 3.5 hours from Roundhill Tunnels and 30 minutes from the A2 Whitfield.
Dover MP Charlie Elphicke said it was a ‘very serious situation’ with families ‘suffering out there in massive tailbacks’, but he said it was all ‘completely avoidable’.
He blamed Highways England, Eurotunnel, the Home Office, and the Department of Transport for not being prepared for the busy weekend.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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