Cross-Channel chaos is continuing as lorries queue across Kent and Eurotunnel passengers face hours of delays after strikes and “migrant activity” fouled up routes from the UK to Europe, reports The Guardian.
Shuttle passengers booked to take their vehicle to the continent were being warned of an hour’s delay to check in and a further four hours before departure, Eurotunnel said, after migrants invaded its terminal in Coquelles.
Thousands of France-bound lorry drivers spent the night parked on the M20 as part of Operation Stack after strike action at the port of Calais halted ferry services.
On Saturday, the Conservative MP Damian Green, whose Ashford constituency encompasses part of the M20 now jammed with lorries as well as a Eurotunnel railway station, called on the French government to “enforce its own laws”.
“We the British government have spent a lot of money in Calais particularly, which has made Calais more secure that it was,” he told Radio 4’s Today programme. “There will be more security measures coming in at Calais, but clearly the big problems at the moment are at the other terminal, the European terminal, and it can’t be beyond the wit of man to police that better.”
Philip Gomm, of the RAC Foundation, said: “Kent is a major gateway to and from Europe but once again that gate is well and truly shut. Operation Stack has become the rule rather than the exception, and on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year it is causing mayhem for hauliers, holidaymakers and local residents alike.
“Solving the immigration crisis is clearly a job for heads of government but that doesn’t mean officials here can’t do more to keep south-east England moving. The depressing thing is that cross-Channel disruption is nothing new and Operation Stack has been with us for almost 30 years. Yet only now are we seriously considering how to address its shortcomings.”
Eurotunnel suspended services for a brief period shortly before midnight on Friday because of “migrant activity”, saying that French authorities were dealing with the situation.
It tweeted: “Please be assured we always work hard to maintain the highest levels of security at our Calais terminal.”