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Delays at Port of Dover as Easter weekend kicks off

Another weekend of travel chaos saw delays of up to 90 minutes reported at Dover.

On the first day of the long Easter weekend, cars and lorries were backing up the A20 on approach to the port.

There are long queues at the Port of Dover
There are long queues at the Port of Dover

Holidaymakers have been warned to allow extra time for their journeys.

Pictures showed traffic queuing in the port, as well as on the Jubilee Way bridge, on the A20 and on Woolcomber Street.

P&O Ferries and operator DFDS were reporting delays to the port’s entrance.

Drivers were advised to bring supplies in case they are left waiting for hours.

Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “First of all, the weather’s clear, the ferries are sailing well, and all that sort of stuff, this weekend was always scheduled to be about 30% lighter than last weekend, today being the busier day.

More delays are expected this afternoon
More delays are expected this afternoon

“What we did is we worked with our ferry operators to try and spread the demand across the three days rather than all on this day.

“I know that that’s challenging for the coach industry because they have itineraries that they want to maintain, but they’ve worked with the ferry operators to be able to do that, and that’s been successful.

“We’ve also installed a new facility to expand our processing at the borders for coaches, that’s operational, I just saw one goes through in just shy of 10 minutes.

“It’s going to be a busy day, we’re running probably about an hour to an hour and a half to get through border controls at the moment, and we will peak through probably early afternoon, and then it will start to slow down after that.”

Holidaymakers are advised to plan their journeys this Easter
Holidaymakers are advised to plan their journeys this Easter

He said holidaymakers should bring drinks, food and entertainment for children if they are arriving at the port from 10am.

A tweet from Port of Dover at 9.37am confirmed the predicted busy movement this holiday weekend, with processing times being up to an hour and a half.

It read: "As predicted Port of Dover is busy.

"Freight is queuing and being managed by TAP.

"Current processing times for tourist cars are 60 to 90 mins.

"Please, check with your ferry operators for the latest updates. Thank you for your patience."

Dover TAP on the A20 is also in place.

Just after 10am, the A20 Roundhill Tunnel coastbound was closed.

Queues were forming due to traffic management to prevent stationary queues inside the tunnel from M20 J13 to A260 Canterbury Road.

There was also congestion to the M20 J12 (Cheriton) back along the motorway heading towards Dover.

A diversion was in place past the Park Farm industrial estate.

However, by 5pm National Highways announced the disruption had eased and the Roundhill Tunnel had reopened.

The Port of Dover tweeted at 3.30pm to say: "Traffic is currently flowing well, tourist cars now have minimal wait, freight moving faster and coaches free flowing. Thank you for your patience."

MP for Dover and Deal, Natalie Elphicke said the news was encouraging, but insisted she would "continue to press our community’s case throughout the weekend."

Yesterday, delays were already starting to form, leaving a long tailback of lorries.

Earlier this week, tourists were being asked to rebook their journeys as bosses brace for a repeat of "horrible" scenes at the port.

It comes after the Port of Dover was forced to declare a critical incident last weekend as queues of more than 14 hours backed up in the town.

Among those stranded during the chaos were schoolchildren who were reportedly left without food for more than five hours

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