Fears huge queues and long waits could continue at Kent ports all summer
British tourists could endure a summer of holiday hell because of ongoing problems at the country’s ‘vulnerable’ southern border.
People hoping to cross the Channel in recent days have been met with huge queues and excruciating waits.
Folkestone was branded the ‘hotspot of holiday hell’ by the AA – and more could be in store in the coming weeks.
Alongside rolling rail strikes, persistent airport problems and passport delays, summer getaways risk turning into disasters for many.
The situations at the Port of Dover had improved as of this morning but queues are continuing to build with a permanent fix still not within reach.
DFDS ferries warned customers to allow at least two hours to get through passport control on the French side.
While the situation is expected to improve amid reduced demand in the next couple of days, there could be a return to bumper-to-bumper traffic soon.
Toby Howe, an official responsible for managing the situation, said the current queues at the Port of Dover were ‘normal for a Monday morning’.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that next weekend is likely to be ‘very busy’, adding: ‘It’s the second busiest getaway weekend of the summer holidays.
‘As we’ve just found out the weekend just gone, traffic numbers travelling across the Channel were back to pre-pandemic levels and with the increased checks it is slower to get through, so it takes very little to cause those tailbacks.’
On what the rest of the summer could bring, he said: ‘Basically it’s a very vulnerable situation, it takes very little to cause further issues.’
The AA’s Jack Cousens said this weekend: ‘We are concerned that we could be in for a repeat of this congestion across the summer.’
Eurotunnel customers were impacted by congestion, promoting calls from its director of public affairs to move passport checks online.
He said: ‘A lot of modern technology exists that would reduce the reliance on staff to conduct those processes in situ.
‘There’s a lot of work that can be done around improving the border.’
The UK government blamed French operations, which it says are undermanned, and denied post-Brexit document checks have played a significant role.
Another rail strike will take place on July 27 after talks to avert it collapsed.
More than 40,000 workers at Network Rail and across 14 different operators will bring trains across the country to a standstill.
The RMT union is locked in a battle over pay and conditions which could see industrial action throughout the summer and beyond.
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