A 23-mile shoreline of the M20 closed from junction eight (Maidstone) to junction 11 (Westenhanger) in the direction of Dover Port or the Eurotunnel as part of Operation Brock, causing chaos on the surrounding local roads. The A20 Roundhill tunnel is enclosed under the Dover TAP system to prevent HGVs from jumping in line. Some delays in the Channel Crossing are due to the suspension of P&O Ferries, as the carrier fired nearly 800 seafarers without warning last month, with rival DFDS warning that it no longer has the capacity to accept blocked P&O customers. However, the Road Freight Association said the HMRC “continues to have problems” with its new post-Brexit GVMS customs clearance system, without which trucks will not be able to transport goods between Britain and the EU. Without the system, drivers do not have the scanning barcodes required to quickly inspect trucks in ports, including Dover. An interim solution could be in effect until Monday, the RHA said. An HMRC spokesman said: “We have implemented emergency procedures to ensure that businesses can keep goods and merchandise moving while we return to full service.” A message on the HMRC website states: “We are conducting extensive research into our systems to address the underlying issues behind this outage. We will provide further information until noon, Monday 11 April. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” The Brock operation involves the use of a moving barrier to create a counter-flow system that allows trucks to be in line and the other movement to continue moving in both directions. However, the system has been flooded, with Kent being hit by long queues every day since April 1, when bad weather also disrupted crossings. Dover Harbor said in a statement that it handled 30,000 departing passengers last weekend, a threefold increase over the entire 2021 weekend. He added that he “expects another busy weekend”, as he urged customers not to arrive before booking. Dover Regional Council Chairman Trevor Bartlett said the port would be under “severe pressure throughout the busy Easter getaway” as he warned residents to prepare for “some disruption again this weekend”. He said he had “made it clear” to Kent Police, the Kent County Council and the Kent Resilience Forum – a partnership of local organizations and agencies – that “we will not tolerate another Dover weekend deadlock.” The conservative adviser continued: “For too long, locals and businesses have had to endure upheaval and, frankly, they deserve better. “We share your concerns about the impact of the stalemate on local businesses and access to vital health and social care for our most vulnerable residents. “Many are rightly concerned about how emergency services could respond to a major incident when virtually all routes to the city are cut off.” Ashford MP Damian Green called for changes to Brock’s business. He told KentOnline: “What we need is to make Brock work. We have found that it works so far, even in times of stress, because the highway remains open. “Once you close the freeway, it makes it impossible, so the Kent Resilience Forum needs to look at what changes need to take place so that Brock can deal with a very unusual situation where more than half of Dover’s freight capacity has disappeared in a moment”. P&O Ferries announced on Wednesday that it is preparing to resume inter-channel flights. A spokesman for P&O said: “British spirit between Dover Calais.”
