Among those angered by the delays at Dover were parents of children setting off on school trips who had to wait for hours on coaches, in some cases only to have to turn back.
Nicola Eslick, 51, from Brighton, pointed the finger at those in charge of border controls after her 14-year-old son had his school trip cancelled on Sunday morning as a result of the chaos at Dover, approximately 14 hours after departing.
The coach left Brighton at 6pm on Saturday and spent all night queueing at Dover before Eslick received an email on Sunday morning saying the school had taken the difficult decision to cancel the trip to northern Italy and the children were on their way back.
She said it was particularly galling because her son, who is in year 10, had missed out on previous school trips because of the Covid pandemic. “Every trip was cancelled, and so this was the only trip [he could go on], because then next year is GCSE year, so we were pumped for this and he’s never been skiing before,” she said.
“I just feel so gutted for them. It’s such a shame, because sending them all off yesterday, there was such a sense of excitement that they were doing something normal again and that a sense of normality was returning after the pandemic years.”
She said her son told her that the children had only been let off the vehicle for one and a half hours.
Eslick said she did not buy the explanation from the home secretary, Suella Braverman, that “bad weather” was to blame. “No, it’s bad management all around,” she said. “ I don’t understand why the ports aren’t prepped for this. My personal view is this entirely comes down to the authorities in charge of our borders.
“I’ve read the press who’ve said that there’s more coaches than expected, but surely the border patrol liaise with the travel companies to know how many coaches are booked on to come through? I realise it’s now a hard border, but surely [extra] provision is made if they know there’s a surge on this weekend.
“I’m counting up the hours, and by the time they come back, it will be almost 24 hours on a coach – there’s safety issues and everything. I’m really angry at the authorities in charge of the borders.”
Another Brighton parent, Ollie Learmonth, tweeted: “After 14hrs stuck in coach at Dover, my son just had his school ski trip cancelled. Gutted for him. Absolutely livid and upset. I’m still waiting to hear a good thing about Brexit …”
Louise Warnock, from Oxford, described the situation at Dover as “horrendous”. She tweeted: “My daughter’s school coach was called to the port this morning having waited there for 12 hours to be then told there is a further 12 hr wait!! They have had to give up, cancel their skiing trip and come home. A year of buildup for nothing.”
Many frustrated and worried parents aimed tweets at ferry companies DFDS and P&O Ferries, accusing them of downplaying waiting times at Dover and questioning why reported waiting times were so much lower for cars than coaches. Concerns were also raised that the delays pushed drivers to their legal safety limits for time spent behind the wheel.
Sarah Koumi, a teacher from Buckinghamshire, tweeted: “42 kids, 12 hours since arriving at Dover, some of it at stop 24 [service station], still not at passport control. No water, no food, no toilets since getting to port and a child with a kidney condition. It’s disgusting.”
