‘There’ll be no significant impacts’

In a statement released on Christmas Eve, the government confirmed it has “approval for the temporary operation of both Sevington and Waterbrook in parallel for a temporary period”.

This is running from January 1 until the end of February.

The DfT said: “It is proposed that HMRC customs checks will be carried out at Waterbrook during this period with DfT traffic management and HGV border readiness checks happening at Sevington.

“It is important to note the total level of activity across the two sites would be no more than that proposed just on the Sevington site in terms of total HGV movements.

“As we stated during the engagement period, there is no intention to operate both sites fully as inland border facilities at the same time.

“Further consideration has been given to the potential environmental effects of both sites operating on this limited basis.

“We have concluded there would not be any significant impacts from this and no greater effects than those assessed previously with only one of the sites in operation.”

Last month, new traffic lights were installed at the entrance to the Sevington plot, which is officially called the Sevington Inland Border Facility.

New signs direct HGV drivers to the 66-acre site