Skip to content

Operation Fennel: Multi-agency plan for post-Brexit traffic revealed

AFP Lorries queuing at DoverAFP
Delays at the Port of Dover mean lorries are forced to queue on the M20 motorway

Plans designed to tackle traffic disruption and delays around cross-Channel ports at the end of Brexit have been revealed.

Due to the UK no longer being a member of the single market or customs union on January 1, new border controls and checks will have to be introduced.

The contingency plan, dubbed Operation Fennel, caters for up to 7,000 HGVs that could be affected by delays.

Manston Airport has already been confirmed as one of the lorry parks.

Operation Fennel has been developed by the multi-agency Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) in partnership with the government.

PA Media Stock image of traffic jams at portPA Media
New border checks could impact on travel times for lorries crossing between Kent and Europe

The Forum includes organisations such as Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, South East Coast Ambulance Service, Kent County Council, Medway Council and the district and borough councils, working alongside government departments.

The document outlines the arrangements to ensure the M20 can be kept open to traffic and that disruption for residents, businesses and other road users is kept to a minimum, while providing temporary traffic holding areas.

Operation Fennel outlines a number of locations for HGVs to be parked if required to do so.

These include Manston, Ebbsfleet and Sevington.

Operation Brock, a specialised contraflow system on the M20, can also be used if required.

A further two lorry parks, which can hold 450 and 500 HGVs, are situated close to Dover.

PA Media Operation BrockPA Media
Operation Brock would see one side of the M20 used only by HGVs heading to cross-Channel ports

Mark Rolfe, Head of Kent Resilience Team, said: "Through the KRF we have brought together Department for Transport, Highways England, Kent Police, and Kent County Council in agreeing a single plan for Kent.

"Together we aim to keep Kent moving, preventing and minimising the impact of cross channel disruption on the community, freight and non-freight traffic and the environment."