Jam eases at English Channel port after 2 days of long waits

LONDON • Officials at the English Channel port of Dover yesterday said operations had returned to normal, after two days of lengthy delays blamed on post-Brexit border checks.

Frustrated holidaymakers were forced to wait for hours to reach the port and board ferries to France on Friday and Saturday, at the start of the busy summer getaway.

The Port of Dover said the backlogs of freight and tourists from the last two days had been cleared overnight, although it said yesterday would remain "busy".

Some 72,000 passengers - the equivalent of 320km of traffic - had gone through the port at the weekend, it added.

"With the entire port system working efficiently, including strong support from French border colleagues and ferries running through the night, the port demonstrated that its summer plan will work for the rest of the holiday period," it said in a statement.

Eurotunnel, however, warned of delays to its rail shuttle service between nearby Folkestone and Coquelles in northern France, with motorists facing long queues to get to the terminal.

There were fears about chronic delays at Britain's ports even before the country left the European Union in full on Jan 1 last year.

Brexit ended free movement from Britain to European Union member states, reintroducing systematic passport checks and Customs controls.

French border agency staff work alongside their British counterparts to conduct checks at Dover.

The British government blamed France for failing to adequately staff their border posts at the port.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told her French counterpart Catherine Colonna that "the French authorities have not put enough people on the border".

"We need to see action from them (the French) to resolve the terrible situation which travellers, including families, are facing," said Ms Truss, who is currently fighting to succeed Mr Boris Johnson as prime minister.

But Paris rejected claims that the gridlock was caused by under-staffing and Ms Colonna, in a tweet, took a more sanguine view of their conversation, describing the talks as "good" and welcoming "cooperation" to reduce the delays. She also underlined the "need to improve facilities at the Port of Dover".

Tweeting the front page of Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, which had the headline "Truss tells France to fix holiday chaos", French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said the authorities in his country were "mobilised" to ease movement.

But in a jab at London, the former Europe minister added: "France is not responsible for Brexit."

French lawmakers said checks took longer because Britain now has "third-country" status outside the EU, and urged facilities to be improved at Dover.

Britain's readiness to cope at the border, including staffing and the introduction of new technology, was repeatedly questioned in the run-up to Brexit taking full effect.

Queues of lorries have already been seen at Dover but operations for tourist traffic have not been tested until now because of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Several British newspapers yesterday said the government turned down a £33 million (S$55 million) bid for upgrades at the port, including new passport control booths.

Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister initially blamed a lack of French border agency staff for the logjam which saw some holidaymakers wait six hours or longer to catch their ferries.

But he conceded there were "increased transaction times" post-Brexit. The port was confident of handling the demand at peak periods, he added.

Mr Johnson had made "taking back control" of British borders a rallying call for his "leave" campaign in the 2016 vote on EU membership. Since becoming premier, he has found that more difficult, with record numbers of migrants crossing from northern France in small boats.

Ms Lucy Moreton, from the union that represents borders, immigration and Customs staff, said the tailbacks were a "reasonably predictable" result of Brexit.

"This is the time that it's chosen to bite," she told the BBC.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE