‘More drivers should test elsewhere’

More lorry drivers should be getting Covid-19 tests outside of Kent to avoid problems on Ashford’s roads, according to the area’s MP.

Waterbrook Park in Ashford is currently acting as a post-Brexit customs facility while work is continuing at the nearby purpose-built Sevington lorry park near junction 10a of the M20, which is due to be completed at the end of next month.

According to Ashford MP Damian Green, Waterbrook Park ran much more effectively last week than any since it began operation on January 5.

He did, however, warn that this smooth flow could be once again disrupted due to an increasing number of drivers entering the county without having been tested beforehand.

He said: “The thing that worries me most is a higher percentage of drivers are turning up in Kent without a Covid test.

“Partly, this is because they’ve been done so efficiently at Manston and Ashford that they got into the habit of doing it in Kent.

“This could come to be a problem for the county’s roads once again if we get a busy period.

“I’m urging ministers to promote and improve testing for drivers earlier in their journeys down to Kent.”

Early on, drivers heading for the Sevington site were accidentally straying into the neighbouring village of Mersham.

More recently, long lines of lorries caused problems as they tried to enter Waterbrook Park and pictures showed lengthy queues of drivers trying to get paperwork cleared.

However, this week Mr Green noted: “In terms of traffic management, it’s got a lot better simply because of better communications between Sevington and Waterbrook.”

He said levels of HGV traffic have risen again to “almost normal levels for this time of year, so it’s quite encouraging that the whole system is capable of coping with the numbers”.

The government had hoped the Sevington site could hold up to 1,700 trucks on the plot and use the land for customs checks from January 1. But heavy rain has meant the checks being carried out at the temporary Waterbrook Park estate facility.