Council chiefs are calling on people who have been caught up in Operation Brock to document how it affects their daily lives as part of efforts to persuade the government a different approach is needed.

Maidstone council wants the government to find an alternative to the scheme and says it wants to build a picture of how disruption and congestion affect the lives of locals.

Council leader David Burton (Con) said it was important to assess the impact from an environmental, social and economic basis.

Cllr Burton said: “Operation Brock is not a long term solution for the border control issues. We cannot tolerate this becoming the ‘new normal.’

"Whilst we know that it is needed as part of the current plan to manage the volume of traffic heading to Europe this cannot be a permanent solution and we need to look at alternatives now – not later.”

While the national media regularly reports the disruption the traffic measure cause for freight and holiday traffic, it overlooks the impact on those who live and work in the borough, he argues.

Mr Burton added: “My personal view is that there needs to be sufficient off- road lorry parking in the vicinity of the ports and this would help manage some occasions with high freight and tourist traffic numbers.

"I know that others suggest a scheme to hold vehicles further up country and we will not rule this out although there would be operational challenges to how this would work and be enforced. "Technology has enabled us to work productively throughout the pandemic in many walks of life – technology could also offer solutions to these challenges."

There is growing pressure from both businesses, hauliers and others such as councils, on the government to pursue other options.

The latest spell of gridlock came a few weeks ago when Op Brock was triggered by lengthy tailbacks on the roads to the ports as thousands of motorists set off for summer holidays.

Cllr Burton said:“We want Maidstone to be a borough that works for everyone, with residents and local businesses at the heart of our decision making and would really like to hear from you about how this disruption has impacted on your lives and ideas for alternative ways forward so that I can take this evidence to government to demand action to prevent this from going on forever.”

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It comes days after a furious driver called for Operation Brock to be reviewed "before someone is killed" after his Mercedes was written off in a crash with a lorry in the contraflow section.

Mike Campbell said it was a miracle he and his wife were still alive after their car was spun around at 50mph at Junction 9.

He said: “The lanes need to be wider, or they need to get rid of it entirely because that road is a death trap.”

Operation Brock is the name for traffic calming measures when there is disruption at either the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel. It uses a contraflow system on the London-bound carriageway of the M20 between Maidstone and Ashford.

It means traffic heading each way are allocated two lanes, instead of three, with a steel barrier separating them and 50mph limit in place.