Holidaymakers warned there is a way to go to clear Port of Dover backlog

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Holidaymakers and residents have been warned there is a “way to go” to clear the backlog at Dover with a “very busy” day expected but port authorities expressed relief at improved levels of French border staff. He told the BBC Radio Four Today programme: “We are operating in a post-Brexit environment which does mean that passports need to be checked, they need to be stamped and indeed the capable people that do man the booths, police aux frontieres, they’re doing their job that they need to do now.” He said the port had “created more border capacity so that the overall throughput can be maintained” and that while their modelling had shown some “very peak busy days during the summer season” are expected, “for the most part we should be able to cope with the traffic”. In an update on Saturday, port authorities said they were “relieved that French border staff have now been fully mobilised at French border controls in Dover”, but warned: “There is of course a way to go to clear the backlog of waiting passengers.” The statement added: “Today is going to be very busy, with more UK tourists heading to Dover in order to travel to France.” Mr Bannister said he welcomed the “commitment shown by both French and UK authorities to resolve the issue”, and said the required staffing levels must be maintained for the rest of the summer “so that we can begin to return to the positive experience we had planned for those going on their well-earned breaks”. On Friday evening, the French Embassy in the UK said French border checks in Dover were “operating in full capacity”, adding that the French authorities were cooperating closely with their British counterparts.