Operation Brock: Freight traffic 'moving smoothly' towards ports

P&O Ferries were suspended after the company sacked 800 workers

Freight traffic is flowing freely through Kent as it heads towards the Channel ports, the county council says.

Operation Brock, where lorries heading to Dover queue on one side of the M20, was put in place last week with thousands of trucks affected.

The Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) said lorries were no longer being held on the M20, with Kent "open for business".

Limited ferry capacity at Dover after P&O Ferries services were suspended, led to disruption on Kent's roads.

In a statement, Kent County Council and KRF said: "With light levels of freight now heading across the Channel, Operation Brock has been scaled back to 'free-flow', the lowest tier of control which allows trucks to move smoothly through to the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel without being held on the M20."

Nical Bell, from National Highways, said: "The use of Operation Brock will continue to be frequently re-assessed."

Up to 4,000 lorries were parked on the M20 as part of Operation Brock

Several factors have caused delays at Kent ports in the past few weeks.

Bad weather, Easter holidays and P&O Ferries routes being suspended all led to congestion around Dover, triggering Operation Brock.

There were also problems with an IT system for custom checks at the UK's busiest port following Brexit.

The Kent Resilience Forum previously told the BBC the problems had created a "perfect storm", with traffic disruption around Dover the worst it has been since 2020.

The Dover Traffic Access Protocol (TAP) scheme, which queues port-bound lorries on the nearside of the A20 outside the town, was also implemented due to heavy lorry volumes.

Operation Brock normally has the capacity for about 2,000 lorries, but it had been holding up to 4,000, according to the forum, which manages emergency planning for the county.

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