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Easter getaway in chaos: Thousands of holidaymakers and school parties are stuck at Dover in 70-coach jam for more than 12 hours thanks to French border control hold-ups and bad weather hitting ferry services
- Port of Dover declared a critical incident as delays expected for passengers
- The wait time for coaches is approximately seven hours from arrival at the port
Thousands of people have been left stranded in a 70-coach traffic jam for more than 12 hours at the Port of Dover due to French border control hold-ups and bad weather.
The Port of Dover declared a critical incident last night, adding that it was ‘deeply frustrated’ that coach traffic was suffering ‘significant delays’ ahead of the Easter getaway.
P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways also reported delays to ferry and coach services, citing weather and French border issues as responsible for the lengthy queues.
DFDS announced on Twitter just after 9pm last night that the wait time for coaches is approximately seven hours from arrival at the port, and five to six hours at 4am this morning.
But reports from holidaymakers stranded in the queue suggested that as many as 70 coaches were still waiting to be processed on Saturday morning with school children on coach trips left waiting for over 12 hours.
Traffic at the Port of Dover in Kent as the Easter getaway begins
The Port of Dover declared a critical incident as high levels of traffic caused coach passengers to experience lengthy delays
Passengers by their coach at the Port of Dover in Kent as the Easter getaway begins
Operators P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways also reported delays to ferry and coach services, citing bad weather and hold-ups at French border controls
P&O Ferries tweeted that it was providing refreshments to coach passengers waiting at the cruise terminal and working on getting food and drink to passengers waiting in the buffer zone at the entrance to the port.
The port said high volumes of coach traffic were due to the Easter holidays.
A spokesperson said: ‘The Port of Dover can confirm that a critical incident is under way as the port is currently experiencing high volumes of coach traffic due to the Easter holidays.
‘Our present high volumes, combined with extended processing at border controls, has resulted in lengthy delays for coach passengers.
‘The port, ferry operators and other partners are working hard to resolve the current issue.’
The port added: ‘We apologise for the inconvenience these delays may have caused to passenger journeys and thank all port users for their patience at this time.’
DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries also announced delays in their services.
The former said bad weather was partly responsible for queues.
DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries also announced delays in their services
P&O Ferries Updates tweeted at 7.40pm that the delay for coaches was due to ‘the time it is taking to process each vehicle at French border controls’
The Port of Dover declared a critical incident as high levels of traffic caused coach passengers to experience lengthy delays
Coaches at the Port of Dover in Kent as the Easter getaway begins
Traffic queues form at the Port of Dover as Easter Holiday traffic builds up late into the night
A spokesperson for DFDS Seaways said: ‘The queues at Dover today have been as a result of bad weather causing delays to sailings, combined with high volumes of traffic, and particularly coach groups.
‘DFDS is working to keep passengers up to date via its website and social media channels, and is transporting passengers on the next available sailing once they have checked in.
‘It has also been working with coach operators to speed up the check in process for coach passengers.’
Both DFDS and P&O have been publishing updates on Twitter.
P&O Ferries Updates tweeted at 7.40pm that the delay for coaches was due to ‘the time it is taking to process each vehicle at French border controls’.
‘We apologise for the wait times and have put on an extra sailing this evening to help clear the backlog,’ the operator added.
The company posted at multiple points on Friday: ‘We know it’s really busy today and we want you to know that we are doing all we can to get all customers on their way as quickly as possible.
‘We know this isn’t the ideal start to your trip but our teams are ready to welcome you onboard once checked in.’
DFDS UK Updates tweeted at 7.07pm, that services to France were running with delays of ‘up to 2 hours due to the winds in the channel’.
On Friday morning, at 11.18am, the company tweeted that coach traffic was ‘very busy’ with ‘120 minutes wait’ at border controls.
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