Delays to lorries headed to Dover continue as roads minister pledges to review traffic management into port

Lorries are continuing to queue on the M20 and A20 into Dover today (5 April) as disruption to traffic crossing the Channel enters its fifth day.

Hauliers have faced severe delays getting in and out of Dover since last week, as a result of a lack of ferries at the port, increased holiday traffic and problems with the HMRC’s Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS).

The disruption began on Friday evening and began to build over the weekend with videos emerging on Twitter of hundreds of lorries queuing for more than 11 miles on the M20 where the emergency traffic management system Operation Brock has been implemented.

The delays began after P&O Ferries services were suspended last week after it sacked over 800 workers. This was compounded by two DFDS ferries being taken out of service for technical reasons. To add to hauliers’ woes the HMRC has warned of further delays due to a malfunction with its GVMS system, which it does not expect to resolve until this Thursday.

The GVMS system was introduced to cope with the additional burden of customs controls created by Brexit.

Local MP Natalie Elphicke said today that following an emergency meeting in Parliament yesterday between roads minister Baroness Vere, Elphicke and Dover council officials, Baroness Vere had pledged to review the operational performance of emergency measures including Operation Brock.

Elphicke added: “Once again the events of the last few days have highlighted the need for more road capacity and better traffic management for Dover.

"It is welcome that the minister has agreed to review the operational performance of these emergency measures, given their severe impact on local residents."

Lorry drivers reported lengthy delays over the weekend. Shane Southward of haulage firm A C Binns told BBC Radio Kent that on returning to the UK from Germany on Friday he found Dover gridlocked.

“It took us an hour to get off the boat and to the customs building. We got penned in for the weekend and we've left this morning with a parking bill of £126.

He added: “On the way out of the port this morning we've seen 1,000 lorries parked up at the holding stations. It's pretty chaotic out there at the moment." Southward added that he had passed thousands more lorries queueing on the M20.

Richard Warren, 59, who owns Fleetwood Transport in Sittingbourne, joined Operation Brock at Maidstone services and 32 hours later he was just a mile from the docks. He told Kent Live that there had been no portable toilets, no water and no information given to drivers.

He added: “We are rough, tough truck drivers and are used to looking after ourselves. We don't expect to be mollycoddled. We don't expect to be wrapped in cotton wool.

“It's a tough job from that point of view. But when the chips are down, give us something, even if it's a Portaloo. Who is failing in their duty of care? Is there a duty of care to drivers and if there is, who is failing?"