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| Dover ferry queues: Delays persist despite extra overnight Channel crossings | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Coach driver Anthony Jones - who sent this picture - described a "frustrating" situation with queues at the port | Coach driver Anthony Jones - who sent this picture - described a "frustrating" situation with queues at the port |
| Ferry operators have laid on additional overnight sailings from the Port of Dover, as they work through a backlog of Easter traffic. | Ferry operators have laid on additional overnight sailings from the Port of Dover, as they work through a backlog of Easter traffic. |
| Strong winds, a large volume of coaches and slower processing times at border control have been cited as causes. | |
| Doug Bannister, the port's chief executive, said his team anticipated the backlog would be cleared overnight. | Doug Bannister, the port's chief executive, said his team anticipated the backlog would be cleared overnight. |
| But as of 05:00 on Sunday, border processing times for coaches remained at three to four hours, the port said. | |
| Coach passengers have been particularly badly affected since the disruption began on Friday night. | |
| Some have provided BBC News with descriptions of travel "carnage", and said they had waited for as long as 14 hours to board a ferry to France. | |
| Holidaymaker Jennifer Fee said on Saturday evening that her coach was "turning around and going back to London" having been told there was "no chance of a ferry today". | Holidaymaker Jennifer Fee said on Saturday evening that her coach was "turning around and going back to London" having been told there was "no chance of a ferry today". |
| Ms Fee sent BBC News footage of passengers camped out on the floor of a service station in nearby Folkestone - where coaches had been "stacked up" due to delays at the port. | Ms Fee sent BBC News footage of passengers camped out on the floor of a service station in nearby Folkestone - where coaches had been "stacked up" due to delays at the port. |
| Coach passengers ended up camping on the floor of a service station in Folkestone, due to delays in nearby Dover | Coach passengers ended up camping on the floor of a service station in Folkestone, due to delays in nearby Dover |
| Many coaches stuck in Dover have been carrying schoolchildren from different parts of the UK on school trips abroad. | Many coaches stuck in Dover have been carrying schoolchildren from different parts of the UK on school trips abroad. |
| One driver taking a group from Cardiff to Austria said they had been in the vehicle for 14 hours. | One driver taking a group from Cardiff to Austria said they had been in the vehicle for 14 hours. |
| Anthony Jones described a "frustrating" situation with "no communication", telling the BBC that it appeared cars and lorries were passing through border checks ahead of coaches. | |
| School trips havoc after lengthy delays at Dover | School trips havoc after lengthy delays at Dover |
| No repeat of Easter airport chaos, industry says | No repeat of Easter airport chaos, industry says |
| The management for the port apologised for the "prolonged delays" and said the tailbacks were being cleared. | The management for the port apologised for the "prolonged delays" and said the tailbacks were being cleared. |
| On Saturday evening, Mr Bannister said: "My ops team is anticipating that we will get through all the backlog, including all the people that wanted to travel today, overnight. | |
| "The ferry operators are laying on additional sailings overnight to try and accomplish that, so hopefully by about midday tomorrow we'll be back to normal operations." | |
| Ferries usually have a longer gap between sailings at night - but they were "basically just running back and forth to clear as much as they can", the port's communications team added. | Ferries usually have a longer gap between sailings at night - but they were "basically just running back and forth to clear as much as they can", the port's communications team added. |
| Officials explained that long border processing times were partly to blame for delays - combined with the bad weather cited by ferry companies. | Officials explained that long border processing times were partly to blame for delays - combined with the bad weather cited by ferry companies. |
| Ferry companies had received 15% more coach bookings for the Easter period than had been expected, the port said. Boarding coachloads of separate passengers is much slower than boarding cars. | Ferry companies had received 15% more coach bookings for the Easter period than had been expected, the port said. Boarding coachloads of separate passengers is much slower than boarding cars. |
| Responding to the claims of lengthy delays in border checks, officials in northern France said there were "no difficulties that we know of", but that lots of coaches had arrived to travel at around the same time. | Responding to the claims of lengthy delays in border checks, officials in northern France said there were "no difficulties that we know of", but that lots of coaches had arrived to travel at around the same time. |
| All border checkpoints were operational and border police had changed some car checkpoints into slots for coaches, they added. | All border checkpoints were operational and border police had changed some car checkpoints into slots for coaches, they added. |
| A UK government spokesperson said it remained in close contact with ferry operators and authorities. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government needed to "get a grip" of the situation at Dover. | A UK government spokesperson said it remained in close contact with ferry operators and authorities. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government needed to "get a grip" of the situation at Dover. |
| Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent, said processing times since leaving the EU had increased sharply "and that would seem to explain the delays". | Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent, said processing times since leaving the EU had increased sharply "and that would seem to explain the delays". |
| An EU border at Dover meant things were "gumming up", as each individual passport had to be inspected and stamped after Brexit, he told the BBC. | An EU border at Dover meant things were "gumming up", as each individual passport had to be inspected and stamped after Brexit, he told the BBC. |
| Delays have been compounded by coachloads of passengers needing to disembark to have their passports checked. | Delays have been compounded by coachloads of passengers needing to disembark to have their passports checked. |
| Despite the disruption, some passengers stuck at a service station in Folkestone appeared to be in decent spirits, and were seen dancing to pass the time. | Despite the disruption, some passengers stuck at a service station in Folkestone appeared to be in decent spirits, and were seen dancing to pass the time. |
| Have you been affected by the delays? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. | Have you been affected by the delays? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. |
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| Ferries | Ferries |
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| Dover | Dover |