Extra troops help clear lorry backlog
HUNDREDS more military personnel have been sent to Kent to help thousands of lorry drivers waiting to cross into France.
Some 1,100 troops have been deployed as part of the operation at the English Channel border after French Covid-19 restrictions caused severe disruption at the Port of Dover.
Thousands of hauliers spent Christmas Day in their cabs despite efforts to clear the backlog. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said about 4,500 trucks had crossed the channel as of yesterday afternoon, but more vehicles continued to arrive “every hour”.
Army personnel have been sent to test drivers for coronavirus and distribute food and water, the MoD said. French firefighters were also drafted in to help test drivers.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said yesterday that more than 10,000 tests had been carried out, of which 24 came back positive for the virus.
France closed its border last Sunday following the discovery of a fast-spreading mutant Covid-19 strain in the UK. Drivers must now show proof of a negative coronavirus test result taken within the past 72 hours before crossing into the country.
Yesterday, about 5,000 lorries were still unable to get home, despite some progress in testing drivers in their vehicles at nearby Manston Airport, on a closed section of the M20, and in the town of Dover itself. Some had already spent nearly a week stranded.
Germany’s ambassador to the UK, Andreas Michaelis, said some German hauliers had managed to make it home for Christmas, while others remained in Kent.
He said: “This is a difficult Christmas. Our thoughts are with them.”
Southeastern railway and Network Rail arranged for food to be delivered to drivers stuck in Operation Brock on the M20, with the Salvation Army distributing the items.
HM Coastguard said its teams in the
Dover area had so far delivered 3,000 hot meals, 600 pizzas, 2,985 packed lunches and 17 pallets of water to those waiting.
The MoD said additional soldiers were deployed as part of Operation Rose to support the personnel already there.
Mr Shapps said he had instructed the army to take control of testing and HGV management operations in Kent in order to get “foreign hauliers home with their families as quickly as we can”.
He tweeted: “A huge thank you for the tireless efforts of our troops, police, civilian testers, council planners & port & ferry workers for giving up their Xmas to get people home.”
The Government said catering vans would provide hot food and drinks to hauliers stranded at Manston, with Kent County Council and volunteer groups providing refreshments to those stuck on the M20.
There are more than 250 toilets at Manston, with a further 32 portable toilets added to existing facilities on the M20.
A Port of Dover spokesman said ferry services ran throughout Christmas Eve night and continued through Christmas Day to help ease congestion.