CONTENTIOUS OP BROCK BILL WILL COST TAXPAYER MORE THAN £35M

Without taking into account the dismantling costs, Operation Brock has so far cost the taxpayer £35 million – even though it was never fully implemented.

The final bill will be even higher, as the costs do not fully cover the decommissioning of the barrier and returning the London-bound carriageway to three lanes.

While the decision to take it down has been broadly welcomed, the costs may not prove as popular.

Highways England said it was allocated £35m for Operation Brock, of which £30m was assigned for the development and implementation of the infrastructure for the M20 contraflow.

Of that total £4m was spent on the design costs and the remaining £26m on its implementation.

However, an additional £5m was assigned to adapting the M26 to hold lorries if needed.

Highways England had originally anticipated Brock would be deployed for up to six months, for which costs were being monitored.

Since it was introduced, Brock was activated and deactivated twice.

In October, preparations to fully implement the scheme – three days before the UK was due to leave the

EU – cost £107,000 as 7,500 cones were laid out.

A further £88,000 was then spent deactivating it almost immediately after Boris Johnson sent a letter to the EU requesting the Article 50 deadline be extended to January 31.

It also emerged hotel bills running into thousands of pounds were having to be paid to accommodate traffic officers brought in to help manage the operation.

The barrier has been in place on the M20 since February, but work to remove it finally began this week