Dover Delays Ease After Border Control Chaos

Traffic on the roads to Dover is now said to be at "normal" levels, after long tailbacks forced hundreds of people to spend the night in their vehicles.

Holidaymakers using the route to cross the Channel suffered up to 15 hours in queues after French authorities increased border checks in light of recent terror attacks.

Queues are now at expected levels for the holiday season, Kent Police has said.

It was initially feared the disruption would continue until at least Monday morning and possibly into the evening.

Police have said the "large volume" of holiday traffic coupled with heightened security checks "could mean some delays over the next few weeks".

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Questions have been raised about staffing levels to deal with the huge increase in people travelling at the start of the summer getaway.

Port authorities said French border control booths at Dover had been "seriously understaffed", claiming coaches were at one point having to wait 40 minutes each for all passengers to be checked in as only one French officer was available.

A spokesman said concerns about staffing levels were raised with the Government earlier in the week and these had been passed to French authorities.

The Home Office said as well as sending in the UK Border Force to help French authorities, Kent Police will be "proactively managing" traffic to get drivers through more quickly.

A Government spokeswoman said: "We recognise the security pressures that French law enforcement organisations are under at Dover and we have agreed the UK Border Force will assist the PAF (French border police) with border checks to remove the backlog.

"We understand that there has been extraordinary disruption in the Dover area ... but safety is paramount."

The Conservative MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, who was stuck in traffic for around two hours on Friday evening, said there had been a lack of planning which led to "poor transport management".

He said the situation was "completely unacceptable" and should have been predicted, adding the people who are stuck should be given an apology.

Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham accused the Government of being "caught ill-prepared once again", warning the Prime Minister should have expected heightened security checks in France.

Among those affected by the disruption was multiple sclerosis sufferer Tanya Cudworth, who was travelling to a Frankfurt clinic to undergo stem cell treatment for her condition.

The 50-year-old, whose journey to Dover from Tunbridge Wells took 20 hours, described the experience as "absolutely horrendous".

Water supplies were dropped from a police helicopter to motorists stuck in the jam on Saturday, while a Sikh humanitarian relief organisation pitched in with the effort by delivering snacks and 6,000 bottles of water.

Motorists set to travel to Dover are still being advised to take food and water with them in case of delays.