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Chaos at Dover ports nears end after backlog of stranded lorry drivers cleared

A backlog of lorries had built up on the M20 after France imposed a travel ban on Britons.  - Peter Nicholls/Reuters
A backlog of lorries had built up on the M20 after France imposed a travel ban on Britons. - Peter Nicholls/Reuters

A backlog of more than 3,000 lorries stranded in Dover on Christmas Day was finally cleared today after 15,000 truckers were tested for coronavirus.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that by 9am on Boxing Day, all freight drivers had left Manston Airport.

The disused airfield had been used as a testing site for HGV drivers trapped in Kent after France banned all travel from the UK on Tuesday this week. 

Although the ban was lifted a day later an estimated 1,600 lorries are still waiting to cross the Channel.

More than 8,000 HGVs have passed over the border via the port or through Eurotunnel since the border reopened, the Department for Transport said.

Duncan Buchanan, policy director at the Road Haulage Association (RHA), said "traffic is flowing" at the Port of Dover on Boxing Day, but he added "it's not over yet" because more drivers who held off leaving over Christmas would be joining the queue in the coming days.

Mr Buchanan said: "At the moment, it's just a case of keep going because we need to make sure we can get as many people out as possible.

"We still have all the people who delayed travelling, who will start to want to get through. Some people will have parked up in Essex and will be looking at moving again."

People use a rope to hand supplies to drivers as lorries queue at the M20 motorway near Ashford - Peter Nicholls/Reuters
People use a rope to hand supplies to drivers as lorries queue at the M20 motorway near Ashford - Peter Nicholls/Reuters

Chaos had ensued this week after dozens of countries shut their borders following the discovery of a new coronavirus variant in south-east England.

While most countries exempted hauliers, France did not, meaning any accompanied freight driven in a truck or lorry could not pass through for 48 hours.

Thousands of lorry drivers were forced to spend Christmas Day inside their vehicles. 

Major supermarkets had airlifted fresh produce to the stricken drivers with locals delivering sorely needed supplies to grateful drivers both over and under the fence.

Train services including Southeastern Railway and Network Rail had arranged for food to be delivered to the drivers stuck in Operation Brock, on the M20.