Bank holiday travel chaos has started early at the Port of Dover, where large queues have already begun to form before the long Easter weekend.
The wait for passport checks at the Kent port on Thursday morning was “approximately 90 minutes”, according to the ferry operator DFDS.
Holidaymakers fear a repeat of last weekend, when thousands of people were delayed, with waits of up to 14 hours. The delays have been blamed on Brexit as French border officials have to carry out extra checks and stamp UK passports.
DFDS said “high volumes of traffic” had caused the queues at border controls and assured passengers: “Once you arrive at check-in we will get you away as quick as we can.” One passenger responded: “We have been standing for 50 minutes. No movement whatsoever.”
P&O Ferries also warned earlier in the day of “large queues” at the entrance to the port “of at least 60 minutes”. They told their customers: “Please allow additional time on your journey if possible and rest assured should you miss your crossing you will be on the next.”
Port officials said they had held an “urgent review” with ferry operators and the French authorities in an attempt to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s delays.
Coach operators booked on to busy Good Friday sailings have been asked to spread travel to Thursday and Saturday in the hope it will ease waiting times. Additional “temporary border control infrastructure” has also been installed.
The transport minister Richard Holden said last weekend’s conditions at Dover were “unacceptable”.
“I don’t want to see kids on coaches or families in cars queueing up and waiting unnecessarily long periods of time,” he said in an interview with Sky News.
Delays are also expected to journeys by road, rail and air. Air traffic controllers on strike in France have grounded many flights to, from and over the country and British Airways cancelled 20 flights on Thursday that would have used French airspace.
Up to 17m leisure trips by car are expected to take place between Good Friday and Easter Monday, according to the RAC. Main roads in south-west England and the home counties are likely to experience the worst congestion on Good Friday, it said.
Eurostar cancelled two train journeys on Thursday, one in each direction between London and Paris, while engineering work on the railways, including the closure of London Euston station over the bank holiday weekend, is expected to exacerbate train delays.
