Ferry passengers face travel chaos in Dover with tourists lining up for two hours as the summer holidays begin.
Long lines of vehicles were seen returning to the seaside town on Friday, with port authorities warning passengers of waiting times of at least 120 minutes for cars and coaches.
The port said those who missed departure times would be given the next available service.
Schools across the UK will begin their summer break around Friday, July 21, but due to the different dates between public and private schools, many families appear to have arrived earlier on Friday. .
Vehicles line up for the ferry at the Port of Dover, Kent, where passengers faced two hours of waiting to be screened by French border officials
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One Twitter user was trapped behind a van, causing their day trip to France to be cancelled.
“The truck got stuck trying to turn around… long lines of people lined up on either side. We don’t have a trip to France today,” they wrote, sharing a photo of themselves standing still in the back of the car.
“We are queuing without moving for the last 90 minutes,” another wrote. “So if you have any alternatives to go through the Port of Dover then you should go… we expect to wait another 90 minutes with any luck. The French have sent enough customs officers/passports for Wednesday winter.”
They later added that French customs officers had increased their number of open stalls to five to try to speed up processing. “So in the end there were only 60 minutes left… Only 2.5 hours to finish.”
One passenger had to wait more than 170 minutes.
“My coach arrived at the city gate/port of Dover at 12:25pm and is still in the car waiting to be dealt with,” they tweeted at 3:15pm.
“Waiting time is 170 minutes and is continuing to increase… Not sure if it will decrease.”
Dover is experiencing high tourist traffic with passengers starting their summer vacation early and heavy cargo traffic
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Holidaymakers ended up in long lines at Dover over the Easter weekend, with some passengers stuck in coaches for more than 10 hours.
The delay in handling passengers is attributed to French border officials conducting further checks and stamping on British passports after Brexit, something Home Secretary Suella Braverman has previously denied.
“No, I don’t think it’s fair to say that this is a negative effect of Brexit. “We have had many years since leaving the European Union and in general, operations and processes at the border are very good,” Ms. Braverman said.
The delay in handling passengers is attributed to French border officials conducting additional checks and stamping on British passports after Brexit.
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“At times of urgency when there’s a lot of pressure across the English Channel, whether it’s on a tunnel or on a ferry, I think there’s always a back-up.”
Doug Bannister, chief executive of the UK’s main departure point for mainland Europe, previously denied claims by senior Tory MPs that French officials were responsible for holiday queues. Easter.
He claims that Police aux Frontieres has been “very, very good” at responding to the increase in traffic, noting that “it’s clear that cross-border processing is taking longer now than it does” than before.”
“When they knew we were having a challenge, they actually pulled in more people to better support us,” said Mr. Bannister. independence.
“Having said that, [the new border arrangements are] remains a limitation in the passage of traffic through the short straits.”
