Motorists face more misery on the roads to Dover as queues continue amid disruption expected to last until Monday. Kent Police warned that some motorists were facing delays of eight hours before arriving at the port. Police distributed water to some who had been stuck in their cars for hours.
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“The A20 is closed eastbound between the M20 J13 and the junction with the A260 near Folkestone for the safety of traffic queuing to enter the port of Dover so that it does not have to queue within the Roundhill Tunnel”.
P&O Ferries said it would hold sailings to ensure customers stuck in queues could travel.
The 38-year-old, from Hythe in Kent, had been stuck in traffic for more than three hours.
“I normally love ’em, but today I am cursing the French!” she tweeted.
The Government said Kent police will also be “proactively managing” traffic to get drivers through more quickly.
French officials have expanded border checks during the state of emergency declared after repeated extremist attacks on civilians, and the increased security has led to the lines of stalled cars and trucks on the roads leading to Dover.
The risky delays in Channel crossings come at the start of the British holiday season when tens of thousands of vacationers head to continental Europe.
“At one stage, only one French officer was available to check passengers on hundreds of coaches, resulting in each coach taking 40 minutes to process”.
It continued: “The Port of Dover, which has no authority over French border operations, raised concerns over French manning levels with the United Kingdom government earlier this week and the government, in turn, raised the issue with its French counterparts”.
“We recognise the security pressures that French law enforcement organisations are under at Dover and we have agreed the UK Border Force will assist the PAF (French frontier police) with border checks to remove the backlog”, said a spokeswoman for Britain’s Home Office interior ministry.
People were advised to bring food and drink supplies, while a Sikh humanitarian organisation delivered water and snacks.
Ferry companies have said they will accommodate travelers who miss their slot due to the heavy traffic by placing them on the next available boat.
Police helicopters and motorbikes provided 11,000 bottles of waters to the stranded motorists, according to The Guardian.
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Dale Savage who was caught in the delays for 12 hours en route to his brother’s wedding, told BBC Breakfast: “There are a lot of kids here, a lot of young children – a lot of people want to go on their holidays”.
