Image source, EPA

We're pausing our coverage of events in Dover now, but before we go... here's a recap of what's happened:

• A "critical incident" was declared earlier today at the Port of Dover due to six-hour-long queues leading to the ferry terminal
• The UK government has blamed France for the delays and Dover port officials have urged French colleagues to "adequately resource the border"
• French officials have said the delays were caused by an "unexpected technical incident" affecting the Channel Tunnel
• However, Eurotunnel say this is "absolutely not the case" and problems at the port started well before the "minor technical incident"
• The Port of Dover's chief executive has said he can't promise the travel chaos will be gone by Saturday
• Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says he's "working closely" with his French counterpart to "address the issues" that caused the lengthy tailbacks
• While Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the delays and queues are "unacceptable", calling the issues an "entirely avoidable" situation

Today's live page was written by Jasmine Anderson, Jack Burgess, Sam Hancock and Andrew Humphrey, it was edited by Chris Giles and Jeremy Gahagan.

People stuck in traffic on the way to Dover have been speaking to the BBC about their long wait.

We've seen several photos of holidaymakers trying the avoid the queues by heading to the port on foot.

Some have resorted to wheeling their suitcases down the motorway, while others have heavy duty bags in tow.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, .

We've just been catching up with the Janousek family, who set off from Tunbridge Wells in Kent at about 5am this morning and have finally made it to France.

Brothers Ben and Eric, who are driving their children for an annual trip to the Czech Republic, told us it took "seven or eight hours to get on a boat" at the Port of Dover.

Ben says they have had "very little information" about delays to their trip and relied on BBC News and Twitter to find out what was happening.

It has been "pretty gruelling" and they're "pretty tired now" but he says they are pleased to have made it to France.

The family are now close to the Belgium border and Ben says they're planning to "enjoy the rest of their trip".

Image source, PA Media

France needs to take action to "build up capacity at the border to limit any further disruption for British tourists" Liz Truss has said.

The foreign secretary lamented the "awful situation [that] should have been entirely avoidable and is unacceptable".

She said the UK would be working with France to "ensure this appalling situation is avoided in future".

Check-in at Dover is now "free flowing", P&O Ferries have said in a tweet, external.

However the queues on the approach roads and border checks are still estimated to be running at between four and five hours.

The company once again reassured passengers that if they miss their scheduled ferry they will be able to take the next available boat.

They also confirmed, external that, over the water, the port of Calais is free flowing with no queues.

Image source, PA Media

The Moto motorway service operator says it is exploring the possibility of extending its opening hours to help drivers struggling to get to Dover.

It says that it will look at contingency plans for its services at Thurock, Medway and Dover Port.

A spokesperson said: "As with any traffic issues we spot across the country, we will monitor the situation closely and ensure our services can cope with the increased demand we may see."

While there still seems to be conflicting explanations for the reason things went so badly wrong this morning, border checks in Dover are now fully staffed, according to the French Embassy in the UK.

In a tweet,, external the embassy said French authorities are working closely with UK officials to attempt rectify the problems at the port.

An update from P&O on its twitter feed, external is warning people who are booked to travel today should still allow five hours to clear traffic jams and security checks.

They also said that they are working with authorities to improve the situation, but expect Saturday to be just as busy.

Passengers are also advised, external that if the delays get better they can take an earlier crossing so they won't have to wait at the port longer than neccessary.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says he's "working closely" with his French counterpart after a "critical incident" was declared by the Port of Dover due to six-hour queues leading to the ferry terminal.

In a tweet, external he says they will try and "address the issues that caused tailbacks

"I welcome his commitment that both Britain and France will work closely to minimise further disruption so people can get away quickly," he wrote.

Oliver Smith
Senior business producer, BBC News

Image source, REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

It's “absolutely not the case” French border officials were unable to deploy at full capacity in Dover because of an “unforeseeable incident” in the Channel Tunnel this morning, Eurotunnel's Director of Public Affairs John Keefe has told the BBC.

“The incident at the port started overnight well before a minor technical incident in the Channel Tunnel. There is absolutely no correlation between the two," he has said.

He wouldn’t go into details on the tunnel incident, which is thought to have started around 7am this morning after the Port of Dover declared a critical incident, but said it did not last very long and “only slowed traffic down; it didn’t even stop traffic”.

“It had absolutely nothing to do with problems at the Port of Dover,” he has said.

Duncan Kennedy
News correspondent

We are getting to the bottom of what's happened today, and there are two sides to this story.

The British argument, coming from the chief executive of the Port of Dover, is that he was expecting 14 French border staff to turn up this morning and process passports, so everyone getting away could do so smoothly - but only six turned up.

The Port of Dover were eight staff short, but they were reassured by French authorities that more staff were on their way. As of an hour ago, the chief executive said he wasn't sure they had all turned up.

We've also had the French side of this story. An official said that not all of the French border police turned up this morning because there was an incident in the Channel Tunnel.

In the official's words, they were dispatched to deal with that incident, and then redeployed back to Dover. Instead of turning up at 8.30 this morning, they turned up at 9.30 in their full numbers. So, the French version of this story is that these staff only turned up an hour late.

Image source, Katy Spisak

We've been speaking to Katy, who is originally from Slovakia, who's now arrived at the French border control in Calais after experiencing "complete chaos" at Dover this morning.

She says she left home with her boyfriend at about 5am - with the aim of driving to Slovakia - but found it "impossible to move" in the car when they got near Dover.

Katy told us they were luckier than most because they managed to leave Dover on a ferry at about 11:15am.

However, on the ferry "people were super exhausted" and extremely "frustrated".

She says they arrived in France at about 2.30pm (local time) but the line for border control was moving quite slowly.

They plan to stay at a hotel in Germany overnight before continuing their drive to Slovakia.

Image source, Katy Spisak

P&O Ferries have tweeted , externalto say there are still "queues of up to four or five hours" at the Port of Dover, which anyone travelling by car will have to wait in to complete the necessary border checks.

But there's also some movement, the operator adds.

"Check in is free flowing.

"Rest assured, if you miss your sailing you will be on the next available one."

Hugh Schofield
BBC News, Paris

Image source, Getty Images

The French authorities have said the delays at Dover were partly caused by an ”unforeseeable incident” in the Channel Tunnel, which meant that French border police were unable to deploy at full capacity in Dover until more than an hour later than planned.

In a statement this afternoon, the prefet for the Haut-de-France region Georges-Francois Leclerc said it was not correct to say that the French had failed to mobilise sufficient border police for the predicted rush.

“The increase in traffic for this weekend was fully anticipated and a suitable deployment was prepared,” the statement said.

“Based on a close analysis of predicted traffic, the plan was to have all the police booths manned (at Dover) by 8:30am. However an unforeseeable technical incident in the tunnel meant that police had to push back their full deployment by an hour.

“It was not until 9:45am that the booths were fully operational.”

It's been a gruelling journey for the Carpenter family, who said told BBC News that it had taken them four hours to travel a mile and a half.

Charlotte Carpenter, her husband Glenn and their four children are going on a camping holiday in Brittany, France, but they are now worried they will arrive after the camp locks up for the night at 23:00.

She said the children "have been very well behaved" but they are all "a bit fed up".

"We left home in Windsor at 05:30, arrived in Dover at 07:30 and we've just been in traffic ever since," Mrs Carpenter said.

"We want to get to the port, but we don't know what delays there'll be at the other end."

The traffic chaos of the last 48 hours might not just be down to a lack of border officials, but an "unexpected technical incident" affecting the Channel Tunnel, French police have said.

The glitch happened on Friday, according to Reuters, playing a part in today's continued disruption.

The police added that they would work closely with their British counterparts to ensure traffic flows as smoothly as possible in the coming days.

Katy Austin
Travel Correspondent reporting from Dover

Getting to or around Dover today is extremely slow and difficult.

Cars and lorries are queuing for miles - and hours - to board ferries. Police are directing traffic through the town, letting vehicles move in stops and starts.

Passengers we have spoken to, talked of five or six-hour delays to get through passport control.

But even if they miss their booked ferry, they are being allowed on the next available sailing once they make it through.

Image source, PA Media

We've heard more from the chief executive of the Port of Dover, who said he could not promise the chaos would be gone by Saturday.

Doug Bannister told BBC News he "really wished" he could tell travellers the roads would be clearer over the next few days.

He said: "Right now our intention is to get the traffic moving. It will take us a little while to clear the backlog.

"It's a busy weekend in front of us, tomorrow is going to be a busy day as well."

He added that staff are focused on tackling the "critical bottleneck".

Sarah Bell
BBC News

We've just abandoned our attempt to get to France after getting stuck eight miles from Dover after six hours of travelling.

We set off from our Bromley home at 06:00 for a 09:30 crossing, hitting queues on the outskirts of Folkestone at 07:30.

After very slow progress we decided to throw in the towel at midday after travelling only 300 yards in three hours with an increasingly hysterical two year old.

At one stage my six year old and I were so desperate we went into a lovely woman's house to use her toilet.

With news of accidents on the main roads and hours more queuing ahead, we've decided to stay in Folkestone and try again first thing tomorrow.

If it were just my husband and I we could have sat it out but it's just too hard with small kids. Hopefully our holiday will improve from here.