M20 London bound shut between Junctions 9 and 8 to increase lorry holding capacity
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Updated: 20:52, 23 December 2020
The M20 has been closed London bound to increase capacity for lorries to wait before crossing the Channel.
Residents in Kent have been told to avoid using the road or the A20 this evening as it is shut between Junctions 9 (Ashford) and 8 (Leeds Castle).
The stretch between Junctions 8 and 9 pictured this afternoon. Picture: Steve Salter
Tensions have been rising on the approaches to the Port of Dover after stranded drivers were told they would have to leave the town to rejoin huge queues of lorries at Manston Airport and in the Operation Brock system on the M20.
Thousands of truckers face Christmas stranded in Kent as border gridlock could last DAYS after clashes
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Updated: 24 Dec 2020, 2:11
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THOUSANDS of truckers face being stranded in Kent for Christmas after ministers admitted the border gridlock could last for days.
Mobs of furious lorry drivers clashed with cops in Dover on Wednesday as tensions hit boiling point - despite the border to France finally reopening after its 48-hour blockade.
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It took until 3.30pm for the first Covid testers to arrive at the Port of Dover Credit: AFP or licensors
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Testers prepared to take Covid samples from drivers parked in the Port of Dover todayCredit: PA:Press Association
Why we haven t seen the end of Operation Stack in Kent after the Brexit transition period ends
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Updated: 14:51, 22 December 2020
As the end of the Brexit transition period looms, many might have hoped the new year will mean the end of Operation Stack, the dreaded traffic management system which has been deployed in the county for two decades to deal with congestion heading to the Port of Dover.
Involving the closure of the M20, Operation Stack allows HGVs to be âstackedâ on the motorway with other traffic diverted on to the A20.
The Port of Drover remains closed Picture: Barry Goodwin
We were not surprised concerns about food shortages that emerged when France and over 40 countries imposed travel or truck movement bans on the UK after rocketing COVID-19 cases were linked to a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Soon after the Brexit referendum we warned that just-in-time delivery systems are easily disrupted, and that leaving the EU, from which the UK derives a third of its food, opened new risks and highlighted old failures that needed addressing.
Trucks on a ferry at sea, freight transportation between Dover and Calais.
What goes up must come down
This crisis has been brewing for years and lessons from past and present failures should be drawn.