M20 Operation Brock controls back in place for the summer

Operation Brock sees lorries heading to Dover queue on one side of the M20

A traffic-holding system for lorries queueing to cross the English Channel has been put in place overnight.

Operation Brock sees lorries heading to Dover queue on one side of the M20, with the other carriageway operating as a contraflow.

It covers a 13-mile section of the motorway between junctions eight (Maidstone) and nine (Ashford).

The Kent Resilience Forum said the system was needed due to high numbers of crossings booked over the summer.

Kent County Council said cross-Channel journeys between July and August would reach their highest number since before the pandemic.

The installation of Brock means lorries heading to the continent are legally required to follow the signed HGV routes to the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel at Folkestone.

Simon Jones, from the Kent Resilience Forum, said: "The decision to deploy Operation Brock is never taken lightly and is based on data and intelligence that clearly shows there is a potential risk of disruption.

"Both Port of Dover and Le Shuttle are reporting high booking numbers through July and August, with an increase in tourist traffic from the weekend of 15/16 July, as tens of thousands of passengers will set off to Europe during the school holiday season," he said.

"When we also take into consideration everyday freight and local traffic, combined with high numbers of tourists heading to our beaches and attractions, we know how busy the roads in Kent will be."

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