Exasperated motorists caught up in traffic queues at the Port of Dover have told how the congestion has frustrated their Christmas plans amid fears they would miss their ferry bookings.
Catherine Toon, 44, an events and conference manager, was stuck in traffic following a five-hour drive from her home in Lancashire to the French Alps with her daughter and best friend for a skiing trip.
“We drive every year to France and this is the worst I’ve seen it.
“There’s no logic to the queues, it’s totally haphazard. It’s not 90 minutes like they’re saying – it took us two and a half hours to get to border control.”
Alex Serbkovski, 32, said his journey home to Latvia for a long-overdue family reunion at Christmas had been delayed
“I have been in the queue or trying to get through Dover for six-and-a-half hours. I came into Dover at 7.20am and I am still here.
“My ferry is at 2pm. I don’t know whether I am going to make it. It’s already going to take me 24 hours to drive home and this is just making it longer.”
Suzanne Browers and her family of three had been in the queue at the Port of Dover for 45 minutes, but said that it took “ages to get here in the first place” from their home in Bournemouth due to the traffic in and around the coastal town.
“It’s bad. It’s a bit stressful because we have no idea whether we can get our ferry at 2pm and if we miss it whether we will be able to get a refund or get on another. I think we will probably not get any money back.”