Holidaymakers face two-hour queues through Dover on one of ‘most popular mornings of summer’

Over 35,000 people passed through the Port of Dover on Friday, officials said, with thousands more expected over the weekend.
Large queues of travellers wait to pass through French border checks to begin their summer holidays (Gareth Fuller/PA)
PA Wire

Travellers are facing waits of up to two hours at the Port of Dover during one of the most popular mornings of the summer, officials have said.

A nine-lane-wide queue stretched alongside the white cliffs throughout Saturday morning on the approach to the border where French guards were checking passports.

Port of Dover officials said overnight that over 35,000 people had passed through on their way to France on Friday and had told travellers on Saturday not to arrive more than three hours before their sail time.

At 7am, they wrote: “The current average processing time through to the border is 120 minutes, as per our peak travel plan for the busiest times.

“Rest assured, you will be on the next available sailing upon reaching check in.”

Google Maps showed dark red lines, the slowest category, reaching into the town, with slow traffic all along the A20 almost to Folkestone.

Some drivers have been venting their frustration by honking their horns and an ambulance flashing blue lights was temporarily stuck in traffic but has now got through.

By 9.30am, officials said the wait time had come down to 90-120 minutes, and that travellers must pass through border checks by Police Aux Frontieres before boarding their ferry.

They have told travellers to use the main routes only to avoid further traffic delays, adding: “This morning is one of our most popular times of travel throughout the summer.

“The current processing time reaching border controls is 90-120 minutes.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in