Dover delays news – live: Port ‘deeply frustrated’ as France blamed for 12-hour ferry queues
Port officials say ‘lengthy French border processes and sheer volume’ are to blame
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Port of Dover declares critical incident as high levels of traffic caused lengthy delays
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Long queues at the Port of Dover have seen travellers queuing for up to 12 hours in significant traffic delays as the Easter getaway begins.
A critical incident was declared overnight on Friday and operators P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways reported delays to ferry and coach services, citing bad weather and hold-ups at French border controls as partly responsible.
In a statement on Saturday morning, the port blamed the delays on “lengthy French border processes and sheer volume” of people travelling.
One man, part of a group of 19 adults and 14 children who have been stuck in Port of Dover traffic for more than 14 hours, described being “shellshocked” by the wait.
Dafydd Francis, a PE teacher from Seven Sisters, Neath, is one of 33 people travelling from South Wales to Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria.
They arrived at the port at 11pm on Friday night and were still awaiting boarding on Saturday lunchtime.
“(I’ve) never seen anything like this,” Mr Francis, 49, said.
“We will arrive at the resort 14 hours late if we are lucky... I have organised various trips since 1998 for school and family and friends, approximately 50 trips. We will fly next time.”
Dover ferry passengers warned of severe delays as travellers stranded for over 12 hours
Officials at the Port of Dover say they are “deeply frustrated” about significant traffic delays that have seen travellers queuing for up to 12 hours as the Easter getaway begins.
A critical incident was declared overnight on Friday and operators P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways reported delays to ferry and coach services, citing bad weather and hold-ups at French border controls as partly responsible.
In a statement on Saturday morning, the port blamed the delays on “lengthy French border processes and sheer volume” of people travelling.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 11:20
Traveller stuck at Dover for 16 hours says situation is ‘carnage'
A woman who was stuck at the Port of Dover for 16 hours from Friday to Saturday has described the situation as “carnage”.
Rosie Pearson, 50, is an environmental campaigner from Essex and is travelling to Val d’Isere in the French Alps with her family on an overnight bus.
It was due to arrive at 2.15pm on Saturday, but Ms Pearson, her husband and two teenagers will now not make it until 6am on Sunday due to delays in Dover.
“The whole thing was a shambles... Not a single bit of communication,” Ms Pearson said.
“It was carnage... The worst thing was that no-one told us anything for the whole 16 hours, literally nothing.
“(We are) very tired but people are resigned now and relieved to be en route... Shocking that something this chaotic can happen. My children’s school has a ski trip this week (they are not on it, with us instead) and their bus was turned away last night - they had to sleep at a service station and come back this morning.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 15:45
UK government ‘in close contact’ with ferry operators and French authorities
Commenting on the delays, a government spokesperson said: “The UK government remains in close contact with ferry operators, the French authorities, and the Kent Resilience Forum, regarding delays at the Port of Dover.
“The port has advised that it remains busy, but the situation has improved significantly since yesterday, with coaches being processed at a much quicker rate.
“We recommend passengers check the latest advice from their operators before travelling.”
Lorries are queueing on the A20 to get to the Port of Dover
(Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 15:15
Dover port ‘deeply frustrated’ with 12-hour delays
The Port of Dover said on Saturday morning it was “deeply frustrated” that coach traffic was suffering “significant delays”.
It said in a statement: “The Port of Dover is deeply frustrated by last night’s and this morning’s situation and particularly so on behalf of all the ferry operators’ coach passengers who have had to endure such a long wait at the port. Whilst freight and car traffic was processed steadily regardless of the additional challenging weather conditions and high seasonal volumes, coach traffic suffered significant delays due to lengthy French border processes and sheer volume.
“Despite considerable pre-planning with our ferry operators, border agency partners and the Kent Resilience Forum and the success of similar plans for processing substantial numbers of coaches during the most recent half term period, the additional coach bookings taken by ferry operators for Easter, has impacted operations for the port.
“Through the ferry operators and the port, food and drink has been provided to those coach passengers caught up in the border queues. We offer our sincere apologies for the prolonged delays that people have endured and continue to work with all of our partners to get all passengers on their way as quickly as possible.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 14:45
Update from DFDS:
DFDS has posted an updated on their Twitter with traffic information:
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 14:10
Simon Calder explains why there are long queues at Dover
Our travel correspondent Simon Calder told BBC Breakfast about some of the reasons behind the long delays at Dover this morning.
Watch the full clip here:
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 13:45
Staff ‘lamenting lack of French border staff’, says delayed traveller
Simon Lyons, who has been stuck on a coach waiting to travel to Amsterdam with his son’s football team, said they had been told they were 48th in the queue to board the ferry – but still faced up to eight hours of waiting to reach France.
“The current ferries aren’t departing though because there’s so much traffic in the area they can’t get people into the terminal itself,” he told Sky News. “The staff here are being very friendly and helpful, but what they’re telling us is that there is a real lack of French border staff trying to get people checked and into the terminal.”
However, staff were “entirely” blaming Brexit, he added, given that coaches can no longer merely be “waved on” to the ferry.
There is “no movement whatsoever” on the roads around the port, with traffic “just back to back”, Mr Lyons said, calling the situation “a real disaster”.
Andy Gregory1 April 2023 13:16
Travellers take to Twitter to complain about long Dover queues
Travellers also aired their frustrations on Twitter, saying the delays had put a damper on the start of the Easter break.
One person said she has been stuck in a queue for 18 hours and counting, while another criticised P&O Ferries for a lack of support.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 12:45
Delays improving with processing time between one to two hours
The Port of Dover twitter account has posted an update, saying the times are now improving and delays are between 60-120 minutes.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 12:10
Why Brexit is to blame for holiday traffic chaos at Dover
Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.
When it’s the start of the Easter holidays and you’re a transport hub and you’re trending on Twitter, you know things are not going well.
While all eyes (well, my four at least) were fixed on Heathrow Terminal 5, where a 10-day strike by security staff began on Friday, the traditional great getaway snarl-up this Easter turned out to be at the Port of Dover.
Thousands of coach passengers endured a miserable wait, many of them through the night. Factors as diverse as stormy weather and the French were blamed for preventing travellers from getting away on much-needed holidays.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain1 April 2023 11:44
