Dover port declares ‘critical incident’ as travellers face four-hour queues

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The Port of Dover has declared a “critical incident”, blaming “woefully inadequate” French border control staffing for queues of up to four hours as the busiest summer getaway in at least eight years kicks off.

The Kent port apologised to travellers facing long waits to cross the Channel on what was also expected to be an extremely busy day for air, road and rail travel as most schools across England and Wales break up for the holidays.

Its chief executive, Doug Bannister, declared a critical incident, telling the BBC the port had been “badly let down” by French border controls that were “insufficiently resourced” and working slower than normal, causing traffic to queue for miles.

The Port of Dover said in a statement: “We are deeply frustrated that the resource at the French border overnight and early this morning has been woefully inadequate to meet our predicted demand and even more deeply regret the consequences that will now be felt by so many.

“We know that resource is finite, but the popularity of Dover is not a surprise. Regrettably, the Police Aux Fronti?res (PAF) resource has been insufficient and has fallen far short of what is required to ensure a smooth first weekend of the peak summer getaway period.”

P&O, one of the main passenger operators from Dover, tweeted: “Please arrive prepared for a prolonged wait – carry snacks and additional water with you.”

The Port of Dover added: “We will continue to work with all Kent partners to look after those caught up in the current situation, which could and should have been avoided, and play our part in resolving it as soon as possible.

“Working with and through the UK government, we will also liaise constructively with PAF to work through the present logjam and to stress again the importance of adequate French border resource for the coming days.”

Travellers are also facing long queues in parts of London, Heathrow, Manchester and Bristol airports this morning on what is expected to be an extremely busy day for air and road travel.

The RAC said an estimated 18.8m leisure trips are planned in the UK between Friday and Monday, the most since it began tracking summer getaway numbers in 2014.