Contingency plans are ready to be activated to stop a repeat of this weekend’s Dover travel chaos when tens of thousands of Britons will head to France in coming days, Downing Street said on Monday.
However, No10 urged passengers to check for problems before setting off on holiday to the Continent over the upcoming Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
The Government also acknowledged that “new processes” introduced following Brexit had contributed to the problems on cross-channel ferries in recent days.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I think there were a combination of factors that took place over the weekend and obviously it’s pleasing that the port has confirmed this morning all traffic is now being processed through controls and the critical incident has been stood down.
“My understanding is that there was very high volume of coach traffic, there were adverse weather conditions, which resulted in longer queues than normal.”
Asked whether Brexit was one of the factors, the spokesman said the French were “inspecting and stamping every single passport”, as the Immigration Services Union had pointed out.
The spokesman said: “We recognise there are new processes in place, that’s why authorities were given a long time to prepare for the new checks, including during the transition period, of course. And we are in discussion with our French counterparts about how we can further improve the flow of traffic.”
Asked again if Brexit was a factor, the spokesman said: “We know there are new processes in place. We believe we have put in measures to mitigate any of the challenges that may crop up on that.”
Downing Street stressed that traffic flows through Dover had returned to “moving freely” by Monday.
Asked about the potential for disruption over the Bank Holiday, the PM’s spokesman added: “We have significant contingency plans in place, we would encourage, as a matter of good practice, passengers to check those adverse weather conditions prior to travel because these can be contributory factors.”
Asked whether Britons should choose to stay in the UK rather than go abroad, he responded: “The public are free to choose wherever they wish to travel, obviously post-Covid.
“That said, we would always encourage people to boost UK tourism whenever they choose to do so.”
