Thousands stuck in Dover in coach jam for 12 hours thanks to delays at French border control

Thousands of people have been stranded in a 70-coach traffic jam for more than 12 hours in the port of Dover due to delays at French border control and bad weather.

The Port of Dover declared a critical incident last night, adding it was “deeply frustrated” that coach traffic was suffering “significant delays” ahead of the Easter break.

P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways also reported delays in ferry and coach services, citing weather and border issues with France as responsible for the long queues.

DFDS announced on Twitter shortly after 9pm last night that the wait time for coaches is approximately seven hours from arrival at the port, and five to six hours at 4am this morning.

But reports from tourists stranded in the queue suggested that up to 70 coaches were still waiting to be processed on Saturday morning with school children on coach journeys waiting for more than 12 hours.

P&O Ferries tweeted last night that it was providing refreshments to coach passengers waiting at the cruise terminal and working to bring food and drink to passengers waiting in the buffer zone at the port entrance.

The port said the high volumes of coach traffic were due to the Easter holidays.

A spokesman said: “The Port of Dover can confirm that a critical incident is taking place as the port is experiencing a high volume of coach traffic due to the Easter holidays.”

‘Our current high volumes, combined with lengthy processing at border controls, have resulted in long delays for coach passengers.

“The port, ferry operators and other partners are working hard to resolve the current issue.”

The port added: “We apologize for any inconvenience these delays may have caused to passenger travel and we thank all port users for their patience at this time.”

DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries also announced delays to their services.

The first said that bad weather was partly responsible for the queues.

Many commuters expressed their frustration on Twitter as they waited for stopped traffic, as did parents of school-age children stuck on buses.

One mom wrote in response to a P&O Ferry update on Twitter: ‘Disgusting! Our children have been stuck in Dover on the coach for 9 hours now, not moving, no refreshments. Trying to get to Austria. How will we be compensated?

Another asked: ‘Most coaches have a lot of kids headed skiing for the Easter break. What are you doing to ensure that they, their teachers and the bus drivers receive food and drinks?

A DFDS Seaways spokesman said: “The queues at Dover today are due to bad weather causing delays in departures, combined with high volumes of traffic, and in particular coach groups.

‘DFDS is working to keep passengers up to date through its website and social media channels, and is transporting passengers on the next available trip once they have checked in.

“It has also been working with coach operators to speed up the check-in process for coach passengers.”

Both DFDS and P&O have been posting updates on Twitter.

P&O Ferries Updates tweeted at 7:40pm that the coaches’ delay was due to the “time it takes to process each vehicle at French border controls”.

“We apologize for the wait times and have done additional navigation tonight to help clear up the delay,” the operator added.

The company posted at various points on Friday: “We know you are very busy today and we want you to know that we are doing everything we can to get all customers on their way as quickly as possible.”

“We know this isn’t the ideal start to your journey, but our teams are ready to welcome you on board once you’ve checked in.”

DFDS UK Updates tweeted at 7:07pm that services to France were running with delays of “up to 2 hours due to channel winds”.

On Friday morning at 11:18 a.m., the company tweeted that coach traffic was “very busy” with a “120 minute wait” at border controls.