Drivers should brace themselves for a third day of delays with backlogs still gridlocking roads, officials have said, as the Port of Dover said traffic is “flowing normally”.
On Twitter at 2.15am the port said the temporary system brought in to handle traffic had ended, freight vehicles are now able to travel straight to the border, and that tourist traffic via the A2 and A20 is “clear” and “flowing normally”.
But a critical incident is still in place, alongside Operation Brock, which Highways England say will result in more “severe delays” for those trying to get to France via Dover and Folkestone.
On Sunday morning junctions eight to 12 of the M20 remained closed to people going on holiday to allow more hauliers to access the port.
Some people reported camping in their cars overnight on approach to the border as traffic came to a standstill.
Travellers setting out at the start of the British school summer holidays, as well as the usual flow of goods lorries, have faced long delays because of slow border checks.
The UK government had blamed a shortage of French border staff, and the French government had argued that passport checks were taking longer now that the UK is no longer part of the European Union.
On Friday, 8,500 cars were processed, but by lunchtime on Saturday, the number processed had already reached more than 17,000.
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‘It could take three hours to travel a mile’
One family with three children in the car told Sky News they were stuck for nearly 11 hours, while another said they had been queueing for three hours, but they still had a long way to reach border control.
Natalie Chapman from haulier group Logistics UK said some lorry drivers had waited “in excess of 18 hours” to cross the Channel.
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French regional prefect Georges-François Leclerc was asked by BFM TV if French customs officers were to blame for the delays seen on Friday and Saturday.
He said they were not, adding: “The Port of Dover, which is a private port, found it easier to blame the French police.”
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is competing to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, said: “This is a situation that has been caused by a lack of resource at the border.
“That is what the French authorities need to address and that is what I’m being very clear with them about.”
Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chair, said the government had failed “to get a grip” on the problem, labelling it “chaos”.