French blamed for port chaos that left thousands stranded
The chief executive of P&O Ferries has blamed the weekend’s traffic chaos primarily on the French authorities.
From Friday night, motorists suffered delays as long as 12 hours and the number of drivers stuck reached 250,000, after France stepped up its border controls security following the terror attack in Nice on July 14.
Helen Deeble said the French were at fault for not providing enough staff for security checks at their border controls.
She said: “The scenes which we saw at the weekend at the port of Dover, with holidaymakers delayed for completely unacceptable lengths of time, must never be allowed to happen again.
“Increased security checks at the border are completely understandable but the French authorities must provide adequate numbers of staff to ensure that these checks can be processed quickly and efficiently.
“The failure to do so at the weekend was the primary cause of the delays.”
The ferry company had done everything it could to keep passengers moving on the English Channel, including providing extra sailings and staff.
But the Port of Dover revealed that overnight on Friday and Saturday, only three of seven French border control booths were working during the long delays of traffic going into the Port of Dover.
And at one stage only one French officer was available to check passengers.
The head of the port of Calais Jean-Marc Puissesseau said he was “ashamed” about the delays, saying he would be raising the matter with the French government.