He Port of Dover has said he is “deeply frustrated” that bus traffic is experiencing “significant delays”.
The port, which has declared a critical incident, said the delays were “protracted French frontier processes and huge volumes”.
Additional bus bookings by ferry companies for Easter have affected operations, a statement on the port’s website said on Saturday morning.
Just before 9 a.m., a spokesman for the port said: “Coach waiting time is still several hours, but tourist cars get through fine.”
P&O Ferries also apologized for waiting times for buses departing from Dover, while DFDS said it expects a busy weekend and advised passengers to take extra time to complete border and check-in checks.
A statement from the port read: “The Port of Dover is deeply frustrated by the situation last night and this morning and in particular on behalf of all the ferry company coach passengers who have had to wait at the port for so long.
“While freight and car traffic was steadily processed, regardless of the extra challenging weather conditions and high seasonal volumes, coach traffic experienced significant delays due to lengthy French border processes and the sheer volume.
“Despite significant advance planning with our ferry operators, border agency partners and the Kent Resilience Forum, and the success of similar plans in handling significant numbers of coaches during the most recent half-year period, the additional bus bookings by ferry operators for Easter have affected for the operations in the port.”
The port said food and drink has been provided to coach passengers in the queues, adding: “We sincerely apologize for the lengthy delays people have endured and continue to work with all our partners to ensure that all passengers help you on your way as quickly as possible. if possible.”
DFDS announced on Twitter just after 9 p.m. on Friday that the waiting time for buses from arrival at the port is approximately seven hours.
It is not the first time that Dover has had problems. The government needs to get a grip on this
Sir Keith Starmer urged the Government to get a grip on the situation in Dover.
“I really feel sorry for people trying to get through Dover. There will have been families who have booked holidays and now they are frustrated again and I think the nature of the frustration will be ‘not again,'” he said.
“This is not the first time there have been problems at Dover. The government needs to get a grip on this.
“You can’t have the same old problem every summer holiday, every Easter holiday. And so the government must get a grip on this and actually help people who want to get away from it all for a few days of vacation.”