Dover-bound drivers told to stock up on food and water
Kent Police has said queues around Dover are now at ‘expected levels’ for the holiday season but warns the large volume of traffic and heightened security checks could mean more delays in coming weeks.
The update follows a weekend of misery for holidaymakers heading to France, who endured major tailbacks and queued for up to 15 hours, with many sleeping in their vehicles overnight.
People complained of understaffed French border controls at Dover, with reports only one French officer was available to check coaches.
The UK Home Office said it sent UK Border Force to help French authorities.
A Government spokeswoman said: "We understand that there has been extraordinary disruption in the Dover area, but safety is paramount."
A police helicopter dropped water supplies to motorists stuck in the tailbacks on Saturday and a Sikh humanitarian relief organisation helped out by delivering snacks and 6,000 bottles of water, according to Sky News.
This morning the chief executive of the Port of Calais, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, told Radio 4’s Today programme the 15-hour queues were unacceptable and he would be raising the issue with the French home office.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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