by Paul Francis and Sean Axtell

Councils have vented their frustration at government plans for a 13-mile lorry park on the M20 that will last “many years" after Brexit.

Brexit impact reports from Dover and Kent County Councils highlighted the county’s roads could be at risk of gridlock until as late as 2023, when cross-channel routes are blocked.

The initial wave of works on the £20 million scheme - known as Operation Brock - have begun with hard shoulders being reinforced to sustain hundreds of parked lorries between Ashford and Maidstone.

Dover District Council’s Brexit impact report shows irritation towards central government, raising concerns that time is running out before the March 2019 deadline.

It warns the alternative proposal to Operation Stack “needs to be delivered before any customs arrangements in March 2019 but a start date for necessary road works has not yet been announced and there does not appear to be a Plan B.”

It says any new system for a contra-flow should not “impede the practical and physical operations of businesses in the Dover district, for example being forced to travel to Maidstone to join the end of the queue to come back to Dover port.”

The 48-page report identifies the issue as one of the main risks facing Dover and says the Government must treat “the free flow of traffic through the port as a top priority” and consider alternative plans for the prospect “of a hard/high friction Brexit.”

“The current transport infrastructure - which is insufficient to respond to changing border arrangements, puts the local and UK economy at risk.”

Dover's opposition Labour group leader Cllr Mike Eddy said the report showed how ill prepared the county was for dealing with Brexit.

He said: “It's ridiculous that we have been lumbered with this.

"We also need to recruit many more border officials and to build a series of lorry parks not just one large one in Kent...” - Cllr Mike Eddy, Dover District Council

"We need a firm commitment from the government to improve the road network including dualling the A2.

"We also need to recruit many more border officials and to build a series of lorry parks not just one large one in Kent.”

In a separate report on the same issue, Kent County Council said it expects planning chiefs to decide on a major lorry park bid next year.

However it “will not be delivered until 2023 at the earliest,” its recent report warns.

“This risks damaging the country’s economy, and is even more alarming considering the imminent exit of the UK from the EU.

“There is now and even more urgent need for Highways England to move forward with a serious and permanent alternative to Operation Stack,” it continues.

Dover council’s report resonates particularly loudly as the council is the Port Health Authority.

It means the authority is responsible for food safely entering the UK at its port and the Channel Tunnel.