‘Immensely frustrating’ French let us down
THE chief executive of the Port of Dover has described being “let down” by poor resourcing at the French border as “immensely frustrating”, as travellers faced lengthy queues at the beginning of their summer getaway.
Doug Bannister stopped short of guaranteeing the backlog would clear in the coming days, but pledged that officials are doing all they can to address issues.
A “critical incident” has been declared by the Kent port due to six-hour queues, with tourists urged to consider staying away.
One lorry driver told the PA news agency he had been queuing in his HGV in Dover since 6pm on Thursday and was still waiting to cross the Channel after 10am yesterday morning. He said: “I’ve been in something like this before, but this is the worst.”
The Port of Dover attacked French authorities for “woefully inadequate” border control staffing and local MP Natalie Elphicke claimed French border officers “didn’t turn up for work”.
The Port said resources at the French border increased yesterday morning and traffic was slowly beginning to move, “but it will take some time to clear the backlog”.
Mr Bannister said the port had shared “granular detail” on an “hour-by-hour basis” about the amount of traffic it was expecting, in a bid to avoid such disruption.
Apologising for the situation yesterday – one of the busiest periods for foreign travel from the UK as most schools in England and Wales break up for summer – he said they had been “let down” by French authorities. He told BBC News: “To be let down in the way that we have with inadequate resources and slow processes through the border is just immensely frustrating.”