UK travel chaos warning as drivers told wait 5 hours or take 20-mile diversion | UK | News
Motorists have been informed that they may need to divert 20 miles to avoid long waits at border controls at Dover or Eurotunnel post-Brexit.
Last month, passengers in Dover were trapped in their cars for more than five hours in hot weather, leading to the suspension of Entry-Exit System (EES) checks. reports i Paper.
At a recent meeting Kent County Council (KCC) heard how ambulances, fire trucks and missed hospital appointments were being delayed as a result of disruption to Dover and the Eurotunnel.
French border controls are currently in place at Dover and Eurotunnel. But KCC is now calling for government action and additional funding to manage EES delays.
An analysis by the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) in 2024 showed that traffic caused by EES controls is expected to increase significantly compared to 2022, when waiting times reach 14 hours.
In a bid to prevent this from happening again, the council is backing a motion that would redirect motorists to Sevington Inland Border Facility on the M20 in Ashford, Kent, 20 miles from Dover. It currently operates as a border and biosecurity control area for Heavy Goods Vehicles.
Liberal Democrat KCC opposition leader Antony Hook said the number of passengers stuck in long queues due to the EES was merely a frightening sign of things to come for the City, where “a huge, unpredictable wave of tourist traffic flows through our borough every summer”.
He told i Paper: “I am very, very worried.
“You will have a terrible impact on holidaymakers, but you will also have a terrible impact on local traffic because of people getting caught up in these delays and not being able to get where they need to go.
“And with the current weather conditions, you’re looking at potential serious public health risks of people staying in the car longer than they expected, not being able to get water, not being able to get to the bathroom, not being able to find food, not being able to stay warm.”
Liberal Democrat councilor Mike Sole told the KCC annual meeting: “With summer holiday traffic just around the corner, the risk of congestion is real and foreseeable.”
Therefore, drivers will have to take a detour this summer or risk waiting for a long time.
