£1bn border backlog

DELAYS due to post-Brexit customs checks will cost the economy at least £1billion a year, it is claimed.

Consultants Oxera say border controls will mean long queues and require vast lorry parks at ports. A report adds: “This does not account for the economic costs of the uncertainty involved, extra staff needed the congestion, the land required for the additional checks. The full cost is likely to be much higher.”

They also warn a new customs clearing system will have to more than treble its capacity.