Dover residents express anger after port disruption

The Port of Dover said it had worked "around the clock" to clear the backlog.

Residents of Dover say they are "fed up" with repeated queues at the port causing gridlock around the town.

Hundreds of vehicles faced delays over the weekend with officials blaming slow border processing and more coaches than expected.

Local businessman Robin Burkhardt said the gridlock happened "every holiday" and it was "killing our town".

The Port of Dover apologised and said it would conduct a "full review" ahead of the Easter weekend.

Dover also faced enormous disruption ahead of the spring getaway last year, with thousands of lorries queuing to leave the country.

As traffic built up, local roads became congested, leaving many residents unable to move around easily.

Mr Burkhardt, who owns an antiques and collectibles shop in Snargate Street, said he had to close his business "yet again" this year because of the issues at the port.

"Every holiday time this happens and we don't get any compensation," he said.

"When the port has problems, small traders suffer. No buses move in or around the town. Most people locally stay in. This is not acceptable.

"The port is killing our town and our small businesses."

Gail Dixon, of Action Carpets in Dover, said her business lost money when it was forced to close because of gridlock last year.

"We have Easter next week, so watch this space," she said.

"If it looks like it will do it again, I will just close the shop because people won't come into Dover."

Gale Dixon of Action Carpets said she will shut her shop if queues build at Easter again

Niki Bushell, a resident of Aycliffe, Dover, said: "When the lorries queue up we can't get in or out."

She complained about the impact of "noise, disruption, people getting woken up".

She added: "We can't keep having this every Easter, every Christmas, every time the kids break up on holiday. No doubt we're going to have it again on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

"We don't need it. We don't want it. We're angry and fed up!"

Sincere apologies

The Port of Dover said it had worked "around the clock" with the ferry operators and border agencies to clear the backlog.

It added: "We continue to offer our sincere apologies to all those affected by the prolonged delays that have occurred over this weekend.

"We will be conducting a full review of our plans with the ferry operators early this week to ensure improvements are made ready for the forthcoming Easter weekend."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We remain in close contact with ferry operators, the French authorities, and the Kent Resilience Forum regarding delays at the Port of Dover."

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