Kent cross-Channel ferries resume after Calais strike

Operation Stack is still in place on the M20

Cross-Channel ferry crossings are returning to normal after a strike closed a port in France.

Industrial action by MyFerryLink workers on Tuesday saw blockades at both Calais port and the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles.

In Kent, part of the M20 remains closed, with lorries queuing to cross the Channel waiting on the motorway under Operation Stack.

Delays remain for freight traffic on Eurotunnel and DFDS routes to Dunkirk.

P&O and MyFerryLink services are now back to normal, with space available on both.

Eurostar passengers who could not travel during the strike on Tuesday have been told they need to exchange or refund their tickets.

Operation Stack is expected to remain in place throughout Wednesday, Kent Police said.

Non-freight traffic are being diverted off the M20 at junction eight, for Hollingbourne, onto the A20 and then rejoining the motorway at junction nine for Ashford West.

Keep doors locked

The strike over feared job cuts by MyFerryLink workers, which finished on Tuesday night, led to the suspension of services through the Channel Tunnel after protesters got on to the tracks.

Several Eurostar trains were forced to return to St Pancras. Services were cancelled on Tuesday but resumed with the first London to Paris train on Wednesday at 05:40 BST.

Migrant activity increased in France, with people attempting to board Kent-bound lorries.

The Foreign Office has warned travellers to keep their car doors locked in slow-moving traffic heading back to the UK.

John Keefe from Eurotunnel said an enhanced freight service ran through the night to clear the backlog.

He said: "We are systematically searching every truck that comes into the terminal on the French side to ensure it is clear of migrants before it enters the tunnel."

Immigration minister James Brokenshire has said the UK is continuing to improve security at Dover and Calais.

Lorries waiting at the Port of Dover have been unable to get across the Channel

British businessman Julian Twynham was in the French Eurotunnel terminal on Tuesday when trains to Kent were cancelled.

He described the disruption as he arrived at Coquelles: "There were queues of trucks everywhere, and migrants trying to climb on to trucks, and riding on the backs of trucks and all over the place."

He said "van loads" of riot police arrived as he left the terminal: "There were people everywhere, and there were police everywhere.

"We kept all the windows closed and the doors locked and we tried to avoid stopping.

"But even as we went through the town, because the motorways were closed at that point, the migrants were all in the town as well and by the sides of the roads. They were everywhere."

Mr Twynham, who stayed in France for an extra day, said the Eurotunnel terminal was returning to normal on Wednesday morning, but he described Dunkirk as "chaos" with migrants on the motorway and queues of traffic heading towards Belgium.

Lorries were left queuing in Kent after strikers blockaded Calais