UK blames France as travelers face hours-long port delays

LONDON — Truck drivers and Britons heading off on holiday by ferry faced hours-long waits at the port of Dover on Friday, with authorities blaming French officials for the chaos — a claim France denied. U.K. port authorities said that, despite months of work between the two nations to prepare for peak travel season, the number of French border police “has been insufficient and has fallen far short of what is required to ensure a smooth first weekend of the peak summer getaway period.” Since Britain left the European Union in 2020, U.K. travelers face stricter border checks when traveling to the continent. Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister said the port had declared a “critical incident.” “We’ve been badly let down this morning by the French border,” he said. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the situation “should have been entirely avoidable and is unacceptable.” “We need action from France to build up capacity at the border to limit any further disruption for British tourists and to ensure this appalling situation is avoided in future,” said Truss, who is running to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and Britain’s next prime minister. By Friday afternoon, port authorities said more French staff had arrived “and traffic is slowly beginning to move, but it will take some time to clear the backlog.” The French Embassy in London said on Twitter that “French border checks in Dover are operating in full capacity,” and French and British officials were “cooperating closely” to get people moving.