No-deal Brexit: Kent agencies 'to stand down' contingency plans

Operation Brock saw one side of the M20 being used only by HGVs heading to Channel ports

Organisations in Kent preparing for a no-deal Brexit have been told by the government to stand down their "worst-case scenario" contingency plans.

The Kent Resilience Forum had been planning for possible travel disruption after Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

Operation Brock was among its plans designed to keep Kent's roads moving in the event of delays at the ports.

In a statement, the forum said it had been told "the likelihood of a no-deal scenario has decreased".

The Cabinet Office confirmed the move and said it was confident it would ratify its Brexit deal by 31 January.

Lead agencies on the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) are the Department for Transport, Kent Police, Kent County Council and Highways England.

Its work included the Operation Brock traffic management system on the M20 and plans for lorry holding areas at the former Manston Airport site in Thanet.

In the event of no-deal, the Kent Resilience Forum expected the UK to be treated as a "third country", subject to third country controls.

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This would mean businesses completing customs declarations and being subject to a variety of border checks - potentially leading to severe delays and queues on Kent roads.

The Operation Brock system was put in place in March and October last year, ahead of previous planned Brexit dates, but was later deactivated.

'Wretched barrier'

The system saw lorries heading for Europe restricted to 30mph between junctions eight (Maidstone) and nine (Ashford) on the coastbound carriageway of the M20.

All other traffic on the motorway used a 50mph contraflow of two lanes in each direction on the London-bound side of the road.

In its statement, the Kent Resilience Forum said: "Contingency plans were in place to ensure that the M20 could be kept open to traffic and that disruption... was kept to a minimum in a worst-case no-deal scenario.

"The forum has now been advised that the likelihood of a no-deal scenario has decreased."

The steel barrier was kept in place in case Operation Brock had to be re-activated

The Cabinet Office confirmed: "In light of the successful vote at Second Reading of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, we have decided to step down government's preparations for leaving the EU without a deal.

"We are confident we will ratify the Brexit deal by 31 January."

James Hookham of the Freight Transport Association, said the logistics industry would be "very pleased" with the news but would want to see "a resumption of normal traffic conditions" with the barriers removed from the motorway.

He added: "If they need to be put back in at the end of the year then that is when they should be put back.

"I don't think we can put up with these conditions for the rest of 2020."

Damian Green, Conservative MP for Ashford, agreed: "We accepted it as a necessity to avoid full scale chaos if there was a no-deal Brexit, but the sooner this wretched barrier disappears the better," he said.

A Highways England spokesperson said it was "in constant contact with the government and our partners in Kent about when and how the barrier should be removed and will have more information soon".