Port officials said the French authorities had only three booths available out of a potential seven and added that it had raised its fears with the British government earlier last week.
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It is hard to imagine a more miserable start to the summer getaway – tens of thousands of holidaymakers languishing in traffic jams snaking across Kent yesterday as extra security checks were introduced at Dover following terror attacks in Europe.
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.
The Port of Dover advised passengers to consider delaying their travel or make sure they had adequate food and water supplies if they chose to travel anyway.
Delays were minimal on Monday after a weekend of gridlock, but travellers have been warned of disruption in the weeks ahead.
“We have been experiencing an exceptional security situation at French border controls situated within the Port of Dover”.
Another traveller, Rachael Mellor, 52, of Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, said she waited in the approaches to Dover for 19 hours before catching a ferry early on Sunday morning.
Following a day of disruption, the Home Office announced on Saturday that it would send the UK Border Force to help French border police, and that police would be “proactively managing traffic” to get people moving.
“Increased security checks at the border are completely understandable but the French authorities must provide adequate numbers of staff to ensure that these checks can be processed quickly and efficiently”.
France has been under a state of emergency since last November, when terror attacks in Paris left 130 people dead, and has tightened its border checks accordingly.
However, the Port of Dover authority said the French border control booths in Dover were also “seriously understaffed” on Friday night, with long traffic jams forming on the A2, A20 and M20.
A spokesman said that a large volume of holiday traffic is “anticipated over the next few days” as holidaymakers set off for Europe.
Police advised people to stay in their cars.
The Conservative MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, who was struck in traffic for around two hours on Friday evening, said there had been a lack of planning which led to “poor transport management”. “Highways England has also worked all weekend – alongside Kent Police, Kent County Council and the Port of Dover – to assist motorists caught up in the delays”.
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They are owed an apology, as are the people of Dover who once again have to put up with traffic chaos in the town.
