British truck drivers (right) Eric Johnson, (middle) Dean Hammond (31) , and (left) Dave King (48) stranded in Dover Port
Credit: Jeff Gilbert/The Telegraph
For lorry driver Eric Johnson, there was only one aim: to make it back to Birmingham in time for Christmas lunch. As it stood on Monday, stranded in Dover, his chances looked bleak.
Mr Johnson, 50, along with colleague Dave King, 48, had dropped his cargo at the Kent port at around 10am. They had intended to take the Caterpillar heavy machinery parts to Lokeren, Belgium, but now face the prospect of spending Christmas alone on the road, many miles from their families.
With Kent languishing in Tier 4, there was nowhere to go to get so much as a sandwich.
"All the laybys nearby are booked up and the truck stops are full too,” Mr Johnson said. "For a lot of us getting here later on, there’s nowhere else to go.
"As long as I’m back home by 11.30am on Christmas day for my turkey lunch, I don’t care.”
Mr King was less optimistic: "We’ve been told we won’t be able to go over for at least two days so it’s going to be cutting it very fine to be back for Christmas. It’s just what we needed after a hard year.”
It was a day of chaos and confusion, exacerbated by bitter taunts about Brexit.
Hours after Britain’s border with France was closed, lorry drivers headed for the continent suddenly found themselves in a frantic dash to find somewhere to park – an unenviable task with vehicles stretching bumper to bumper in every direction.
Meanwhile, desperate families called to ask whether they would make it home for Christmas, a question no one was able to answer.
Lorries queue on the M20 after France temporarily closed its border with the UK late Sunday, halting freight and ferry departures from the port of Dover for 48 hours, citing coronavirus concerns
Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
With ferries and trains blocked from leaving Britain and the Port of Dover closed to all traffic, many began the day resigned to their fate, preparing to spend the festive season in their trucks.
Such was the lack of notice about the closure that the message had not filtered through to many on the road.
At the main entrance to the port, two employees wearing hi-vis jackets were forced to stand in the driving rain, yelling "it’s closed" at approaching hauliers, directing them to make a U-turn.
Many resorted to pulling over on the roundabout and flicking their hazard lights on while they assessed their options.
Meanwhile, police were forced to close the BP garage just off the M20 after it morphed into a temporary truck stop. Many had simply abandoned their vehicles on the forecourt.
Haulier Matt Richards, 50, from Wolverhampton, was among those stranded in his lorry after being blocked in by others.
"I was driving towards the port when my phone started pinging about the closure. It’s absolutely ridiculous to make such a last minute snap decision.
"I pulled into the garage when I realised I wasn’t going to get across but then these other vans have blocked me in so I can’t get out.”
Trucks parked near the Port of Dover on Monday. Britain's biggest port stopped all traffic heading to Europe, triggering delays to food supplies after the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus prompted a wave of countries to ban travel from the UK
Credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Shortly after 10am, there appeared to be good news. Amid a growing clamour from industry chiefs to allow lorry drivers to resume their journeys, the Port of Dover confirmed that inbound freight was now starting to trickle over the Channel.
Minutes later, French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said: “In the next few hours, at European level, we’re going to establish a solid health protocol to ensure that movement from the UK can resume.”
John Keefe, from Eurotunnel, said he hoped people would be able to travel from the UK to France from Wednesday or Thursday, although he cautioned that movement might be reliant on a negative coronavirus test.
Meanwhile, Downing Street insisted that it was “in close contact with the French to try and get this resolved”.
But the joy was short lived when it emerged that the French would indeed demand proof of a negative test result on arrival. How the drivers stranded in Kent would manage to access such a test was anyone’s guess.
Santos Filipe, 54, from Portugal who had brought a cargo of vegetables to England from Spain with the intention of returning the same afternoon, also faced the prospect of not making it home for the festivities.
"I have had to turn off my emotions. I’m trying not to let it get to me,” he said.
Keith Silvestre, 42, from Wolverhampton, stranded at the BP garage for more than 14 hours, said: "The Government has a lot to answer for. But more so the French government.
"I hope it’s not political but it does feel like it could be payback for something.”
Damien Doherty, 43, who was waiting to collect an empty container after dropping off a crate of fish in Boulogne, France, said: "I was literally the last lorry in the Port last night before they shut it.
"Thankfully, I managed to get it shipped out in time as it’s a very expensive load of perishable fish.
"Now I’ve been stuck here ever since. My wife is worried sick I won’t be home for Christmas.”
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