Holyhead Port queues 'partly due to pre-Brexit stockpiling'

A rise in freight traffic partly due to stockpiling has been leading to heavy queues into Holyhead Port, a ferry company has said.

Stena said some customers are shipping over six times more than usual ahead of the post-Brexit trade rules.

It has seen a 20% year-on-year increase in traffic because firms in Ireland and Britain are shifting more goods than normal at this time of year.

Police have advised motorists to avoid the area and take alternative routes.

Traffic Wales said congestion remained on the A55 junction 2 Parc Cybi to junction 1 Holyhead westbound, on Anglesey.

Some sailings have been cancelled due to poor weather and a ferry that sails between Birkenhead and Ireland was taken out of service on Tuesday following a number of Covid cases being found among staff.

This has led to some freight traffic being diverted to the Holyhead - Dublin port route.

Simon Palmer, Stena communications manager for the Irish Sea and the north sea, said there are currently record levels of freight being shifted in both directions across the Irish Sea, ahead of the post-Brexit trade rules which come in on 1 January 2021.

He said this stock was "everything that can be stored" such as supermarket goods, hardware and construction materials.

"We've broken our freight records in the past three weeks in a row.

"The delays have been compounded by record levels of freight being moved across the Irish sea, due to companies stockpiling before Brexit," he added.