ritain and france have announced that they have plans in place to prevent further border chaos.
In a joint statement on Friday, Phil Douglas, director general of border force and Brigitte Lafourcade, deputy director general at Police Aux Frontieres, said the two countries are “working closely together” to support a smooth flow of traffic.
It comes after tens of thousands of families share their cross-Channel journeys ruined over the weekend by traffic jams and delays of several hours, attributed to a shortage of French border officials and a serious accident on the M20 coincides with the school holidays.
Mr Douglas and Ms Lafourcade said: “France and the UK have worked closely in recent days to prepare for the management of our common border during the current period of increasing passenger traffic.
“Both Police Aux Frontieres and UK Border Force, in conjunction with port operators, have plans this weekend at the juxtaposed checkpoints on both sides of the Channel to maximize passenger flows.
“France and the UK will continue to work closely together to support the flow of freight and passengers across the Channel throughout the summer period and beyond.”
The Cabinet Office said earlier on Friday that British and French officials have held regular talks over the travel chaos this week.
They have now set up a new UK-French Passenger Technical Working Group, which will meet weekly over the summer to avoid further disruption to passengers traveling to both sides of the Channel.
Traffic enforcement has also been put in place to keep the roads around passable dover and Folkestonesaid the cabinet.
Earlier on Friday, several major roads in the UK were hit by congestion, affecting holidaymakers en route to the south and southwest of England.
This was due to a combination of the first holiday rental changeover days during the school summer holidays in England and Wales, a railway strike, the Commonwealth Games in Birminghamand the start of the Football League season in England.
The AA has instituted its first “amber traffic warning” on Friday and for Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Most of the M25 was congested, while the M5 showed start-stop traffic in a south-westerly direction.
Also on the western parts of the M4 towards Bristol, the M55/M6 junction near Preston, Lancashire, the M42 east of Birmingham, the M60 and M62 in Manchester and the A64 to York there were slow traffic jams.
Yet fears are of a repeat of last week’s appalling delays on roads approaching the border Port of Dover and Folkestone proved unfounded.
In Dover and Folkstone, the operation went much more smoothly on Friday, with P&O Ferries saying there were “no queues at border controls and traffic flows freely through the harbour”.
Port of Dover CEO Doug Bannister said on Thursday that French border controls will be “fully equipped”, which will make a “fundamental difference”.
The port expects to welcome about 140,000 passengers, 45,000 cars and 18,000 trucks between Thursday and Sunday.
National Highways, which operates England’s highways and major A roads, said: “Drivers traveling in and around Knows are advised to plan ahead as this weekend is likely to be extremely busy.
“Operation Brock counterflow will remain in place on the M20 and is part of a series of measures to improve Kent’s resilience and ensure a smooth flow of traffic across the region in the event of disruption to services across the English Channel. “
Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of road policy, said: “While this busy traffic is a frustration for many, those who work for the UK tourism industry should be delighted that so many want a holiday at home and the best that Britain has to offer. to discover. .
“The only shining light was the south east, where both Dover and Folkestone have little to no delays.
“It will be even busier tomorrow, though, so drivers planning to hit the road should be prepared for stop-start traffic.