The UK is facing days more disruption at the main English Channel crossing as thousands of lorry drivers remain stranded in Britain while waiting for coronavirus tests to enable them to enter France.
The atmosphere on the south coast of England turned tense on Wednesday as a crowd of frustrated drivers eager to cross the Channel were involved in scuffles with police at the entrance to the Port of Dover.
Many European lorry drivers are facing the prospect of spending Christmas in the UK stuck inside their vehicles, with limited access to food and washing facilities.
On Wednesday evening some lorries whose drivers had tested negative for Covid-19 were allowed on to ferries at Dover that were bound for Calais in France, according to the Road Haulage Association, a trade body.
France announced the reopening of its border with the UK late on Tuesday, ending a 48-hour closure imposed in an attempt to halt the advance of a new strain of coronavirus now spreading fast through southern England.
But France said travellers coming from the UK must be able to prove they have had negative readings in Covid-19 tests.
The UK government warned it would take several days to clear the backlog of thousands of lorries left stranded in the UK after France closed its border on Monday and Tuesday.
The situation was chaotic at the entrance to the Port of Dover, which was blocked throughout much of Wednesday by lorry drivers unable to board ferries because they had not the tests demanded by the French government.
The main testing operation was set up by the UK government 20 miles away from Dover at Kent’s Manston airport, a disused facility where most of the stranded lorries were being held.
Lorries parked at Manston airport in Kent on Tuesday © William Edwards/AFP/Getty
“The ships are blocked in Dover, so it’s going very, very slowly in Calais,” said a representative of the French port on Wednesday afternoon. “We have had two HGVs since midnight.”
Train services between the UK and continental Europe resumed on Wednesday, as did some flights between British airports and France and other EU countries, including Belgium and Holland, as they eased restrictions on travellers from the UK.
Getlink, the company that runs the Channel Tunnel, said the first cars and vans came through from the UK to France in the early hours of Wednesday but it took hours for lorries to follow. “It’s only late this afternoon that volumes have picked up significantly,” added Getlink.
The freight traffic through the tunnel is expected to build steadily, and trains will run throughout the Christmas period to reduce the backlog.
The UK government called in the military to help NHS staff begin testing lorry drivers before their departure for France.
“This is a mammoth task and clearing the backlog will take time and patience,” said transport secretary Grant Shapps.
The Department for Transport said 5,000 lorries were at its holding areas at Manston and on the M20 motorway before testing of drivers began.
However, the Road Haulage Association estimated the overall number of lorries waiting to cross the Channel at between 8,000 and 10,000.
Retailers in the UK expect there will be some problems sourcing fresh produce, such as fruit and vegetables, until the backlog is cleared, though the British Retail Consortium, a trade body, was not anticipating widespread shortages.
The transport department has told the haulage industry it expects to be able to test 300 drivers each hour. About 30,000 tests were already in Kent, with 100,000 expected to be delivered over the coming days, said officials.
Only lorry drivers, French and EU citizens or residents with an essential reason to travel who can show a negative Covid-19 test result less than 72 hours old will be allowed into France until at least January 6.
Disruption has not been confined to the UK side of the Channel.
European transport companies are struggling to bring lorries and drivers home for Christmas, and French seafood importers said they have run short of essential British produce at their busiest time of year.
“Monday and Tuesday correspond to the biggest days of the year for our members,” said Peter Samson, who heads the Union du Mareyage Français, a federation of almost 500 seafood processing businesses, many in Boulogne-sur-Mer. “It was a bit of a panic on Sunday evening.”
Source: Economy - ft.com
