Dover Port health body fears gangs of meat smugglers looking to bypass new post-Brexit checks

Lucy Manzano, head of the Dover Port Health Authority, said: ‘Goods will now come through Dover without interception at the port, with the anticipation and hope that drivers will self-present at a facility 22 miles away.” Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

The Port of Dover could become a target for criminals smuggling illegal and diseased meat into the country under new post-Brexit plans that will involve lorries from the continent being checked 22 miles inland, the port’s health authority has warned.

The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) is now considering legal action against the government over its decision to end physical checks of imported meat at a post within the port. Instead, lorries will be directed to a new checking facility half an hour’s drive up the M20 at Sevington, Ashford.