Kent: Overflow lorry park cleared leaving hauliers free to head towards Dover again - Sky News

An overflow lorry park for freight drivers waiting to cross into France has been closed, leaving them free to head back towards Dover.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that by 9am on Boxing Day, all hauliers had left Manston airfield - the site used to manage disruption in Kent caused by France's travel and partial trade ban.

He added that 15,526 coronavirus tests have now been carried out on drivers, yielding 36 positive results which "are being verified".

Image: By 9am on Boxing Day, the backlog was cleared. Pic: Grant Shapps

"Manston now empty and lorries should no longer head there please," the cabinet minister said in a tweet.

Mr Shapps thanked "everyone who's worked tirelessly over the past few days to reduce the huge disruption".

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Image: Some travel from the UK to France began to resume on Wednesday morning

"Police, military, planners, councils, charities, border staff - all have rallied to bring food and drink to stranded hauliers," he said.

The number of lorries still waiting to cross into France is now at a manageable enough number - around 1,600 - that they can join a queue on the M20.

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Image: Hundreds of lorries were queuing up on the approach to Dover

Havoc was sprung on Kent's roads last weekend when a new coronavirus variant discovered in southeast England led to dozens of countries quickly shutting their borders to Britain.

While most exempted hauliers, France did not, meaning any accompanied freight driven in a truck or lorry could not pass through for 48 hours.

Frantic negotiations were set up as the UK tried to get its neighbour to unblock the trade route - particularly vital in the run-up to Christmas and with the end of the Brexit transition period looming.

The situation worsened as a backlog of over 5,000 lorries built up, prompting fears about potential food shortages, while the government urged people not to travel to Kent ports.

Image: Drivers now have to deliver a negative COVID-19 test to cross the Channel

An agreement was then struck allowing accompanied freight to start travelling over the Channel by ferry or train again, provided drivers returned a negative lateral flow test.

But the backlog took days to clear, with many drivers stranded away from home over the festive period and some scuffles breaking out with police.

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2020-12-26 14:08:02Z
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