Miles of lorry queues in Kent again as businesses stockpile before Brexit

Substantial queues of lorries stacked up again in Kent on Saturday as businesses faced Brexit uncertainty and dealt with the Christmas rush.

Pictures taken on Saturday morning show a long line of HGVs queuing for up to five miles on the M20, starting in the Ashford area and stretching to the Eurotunnel entrance at Folkestone.

There were also long lines of HGVs along the M20 between Capel-le-Ferne, the site of the Battle of Britain memorial on the White Cliffs, and the port of Dover.

The lengthening queues appeared to be caused by businesses stockpiling goods in an attempt to prepare for any cross-Channel disruption in January.

With less than two weeks left for the UK and the EU to decide on the nature of their post-Brexit relationship, the absence of a deal has caused uncertainty among traders, with as many as 60 per cent of businesses in Kent estimated not to be prepared for the UK to crash out of the EU.

Lorries without the proper paperwork could be turned away from the border from 1 January.

Doug Bannister, chief executive of the port of Dover, said on Friday that he believed the port would be able to handle the uncertainty.

“Dover has a proven track record to handle disruption in a good, successful way, and we are able to manage the disruption and importantly recover the position very swiftly indeed,” he told the Press Association.  

He added that increased freight ahead of 31 December means that the first weeks of 2021 could be calmer.

On Friday, widely circulated videos showed lorries queueing up for up to 20 miles in Folkestone amid multiple reports that businesses were stashing goods in the event of the UK and EU failing to agree a trade deal at the end of the Brexit transition period.

On Friday, the Irish premier, Micheal Martin, said “very significant difficulties” remained in Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU, with the fisheries continuing to prove a sticking point.

Additional reporting by PA