Dover council says town "an acceptable sacrifice" during travel chaos

Dover is being treated as "an acceptable sacrifice" by the body in charge of emergency planning in Kent, the local council's leader said

Traffic chaos left some travellers queuing for hours at the weekend.

Trevor Bartlett said the gridlock was a "body blow for local businesses" trying to rebuild after the pandemic.

He said Dover District Council would review its involvement with the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF). The body has been approached for comment.

The delays were caused by a shortage of ferries, bad weather and the start of the Easter break.

Mr Bartlett said: "Dover appears to be the 'acceptable sacrifice' with the KRF's planning based on the acceptance of gridlock at Dover.

"Whilst I acknowledge the hard work of those on the front line at the weekend, I have to conclude that the views of those of us who know Dover best are being ignored."

Freight vehicles are still parked on the M20 and A20 around Dover, as disruption for traffic crossing the English Channel enters its fourth day.

One HGV operator told the BBC there were queues of up to seven hours on the M20, with lorry drivers then waiting for another three to four hours once they arrived in Dover.

A spokesman for Logistics UK told the BBC the organisation was "monitoring the situation at the Channel ports closely, following a number of issues for vehicles transiting the border".

He went on: "Operators do have the ability to switch between ferry and train services, as capacity becomes available, and the industry is well-versed in being flexible and adapting to the changing situation.

"Unfortunately some delays are currently unavoidable, but operators are building these into their plans, and there is plenty of stock across the supply chain."

Adding to the travel woes, earlier ferry operator DFDS, which had been providing crossings for P&O passengers, announced it had "no availability for P&O customers" between 8 April and 10 April.

Capacity at the port had been reduced due to the suspension of P&O services and two DFDS vessels being taken out of action for scheduled and emergency maintenance.

A spokeswoman for DFDS said the second ferry would be back in service in time for its 22:00 BST sailing on Tuesday evening, meaning all six of its ships would be in service.

Earlier the leader of Kent County Council, Roger Gough, said "a lack of road resilience" was affecting "growth and mobility" across the county and "It's high time it is addressed" because of the county's significance to the UK as a trade corridor.

An emergency meeting with Roads Minister Baroness Vere, held on Monday, was attended by Mr Gough, Dover MP Natalie Elphicke and Dover District Council leader Trevor Bartlett.

Following the meeting in Parliament, Ms Elphicke said: "Once again the events of the last few days have highlighted the need for more road capacity and better traffic management for Dover.

"It is welcome that the minister has agreed to review the operational performance of these emergency measures, given their severe impact on local residents."

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