Passengers at the port of Dover travelling to France face delays of an hour, just a day after schoolchildren dispersed for the summer holidays

Holidaymakers crossing the Channel are already experiencing travel disruptions just one day after the school year ended for thousands of pupils.

People travelling from the port of Dover to France today will face delays of at least an hour.

A Port of Dover spokesman said: “There is currently a 60-minute waiting time at the buffer zone in Dover Port.

“We appreciate your patience as we work hard to handle traffic – thank you.”

They continued: “We are seeing hundreds of displaced airport passengers arriving at the port. Please make sure you have made a reservation before arrival.”

mpu1

Meanwhile, ferry service DFDS is reporting delays of up to two hours in Dover.

The delays came less than 24 hours after many students were on a six-week vacation.

With temperatures rising to 30 degrees Celsius, a huge increase in the number of vehicles on the roads is expected this weekend.

However, the port’s buffer zone, where waiting traffic is accommodated, will already have less space due to construction work for the new Entry/Exit System (EES) border controls, which will start in October.

Earlier this month, employers announced that processing time at the port could take up to two hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during the summer holidays between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Cross-Channel traffic is also expected to increase by almost a third in the coming weeks due to the Olympic Games in Paris, which start on Friday (26 July).

According to Doug Bannister, CEO of the Port of Dover, plans are in place to avoid major disruption.

He explained: “We have to take into account an expected 30% increase in the number of travellers coming to Paris for the Olympic Games, which start later this month.

mpu2

“We have the additional challenge of having to deliver the infrastructure works required by France and the EU to support the EU’s new entry/exit system, which is due to come into force in October.

“Upon arrival in port this summer, our customers will see contractors on site, with a busy 24/7 operation already underway to build these facilities.

“The impact of these works, which are necessary to accommodate the process, means that our buffer zone, where traffic waits at the French border crossing, will have reduced capacity.

“We have added as much capacity as possible to compensate for this, but we warn those who will be using the port this summer that it will be exceptionally busy.”

A global IT outage affecting all computer systems also left passengers dissatisfied yesterday.

This coincides with the return of Operation Brock on the M20.

The counterflow system, which sees lorries heading to the mainland queue at the coast between Junction 8 for Leeds Castle and Junction 9 for Ashford, was reintroduced earlier this month and is expected to remain in place until mid-August.