Brexit border IT outages delay import of perishable items to UK by up to 20 hours

Lorries disembark at Dover. Businesses have called the new checks a ‘disaster’. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Lorries carrying perishable food and plants from the EU are being held for up to 20 hours at the UK’s busiest Brexit border post as failures with the government’s IT systems delay imports entering Britain.

Businesses have described the government’s new border control checks as a “disaster” after IT outages led to lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers being held for long periods, reducing the shelf life of their goods and prompting retailers to reject some orders.