Drivers have been informed that in order to avoid long wait times for post-Brexit border checks at Dover or Eurotunnel, they may need to take a 20-mile diversion.
Last month, passengers at Dover were trapped in their cars for more than five hours in hot weather, leading to a suspension of Entry-Exit System (EES) checks, reports the i Paper.
At a recent meeting, Kent County Council (KCC) heard about how delayed ambulances, fire engines and missed hospital appointments were a result of the disruption at Dover and the Eurotunnel.
Currently, French border checks happen at Dover and the Eurotunnel. But KCC is now demanding government action and additional funding to manage EES delays.
In 2024, an analysis by the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) showed that traffic caused by EES checks was expected to increase significantly, even more than in 2022, when wait times reached up to 14 hours.
In a bid to prevent this from happening again, the council is supporting a motion that would divert drivers to the Sevington Inland Border Facility on the M20 in Ashford, Kent, which is 20 miles from Dover. Currently, it already operates as a border and biosecurity checking site for Heavy Goods Vehicles.
Antony Hook, Liberal Democrat KCC opposition leader, said the number of passengers who had been stuck in long queues due to EES was only a scary sign of things to come for Kent, where a “massive, unpredictable wave of tourist traffic flows through our county every single summer”.
He told the i Paper: “I’m very, very concerned.
“You are going to have a horrendous impact on holidaymakers, but also on local traffic for people getting caught up in those delays, not being able to go where they need to go.
“And with the weather like it is at the moment, you’re looking at potentially serious public health risks of people being in cars for more hours than they expected, not having water, not being able to get toilet facilities, not having food, getting hot.”
Lib Dem councillor Mike Sole said at KCC’s annual meeting: “With summer holiday traffic just around the corner, the risk of gridlock is real and predictable.”
So drivers will have to decide on taking a detour or risk a long wait time this summer.