UK and France agree deal on mass Covid testing of lorry drivers as travel ban lifts

An aerial view of the lorries parked at Manston Airport in Kent

Credit: William Edwards/AFP

Any drivers testing positive for Covid will be put into isolation in Kent hotels, while ministers have agreed with the France that there will be a review of the need for tests in January to avoid setting a future precedent for cross-Channel travel.

The deal, however, failed to assuage fears of potential shortages in supermarkets after Christmas due to the time it will take to clear the backlog and as retailers engage in a race against time to replenish stocks into the New Year. 

Rod McKenzie, the director of policy at the Road Haulage Association (RHA), said the delays caused by the two Governments’ wrangling over testing had been "disastrous".

"It’s been a major disruption to the supply chain. Conditions at Manston Airport are terrible. Very few loos. Two thousand trucks parked and no food. It’s just awful," he said.

"It’s damaging because if I was an East European lorry driver I would not want to do this run again. So that damages us. I don’t think the Government has gripped it at all.

"There’s a backlog of 6,000 to 7,000 lorries which will take days to clear even with the rapid lateral flow tests. What is really worrying is that it is beginning to impact on the supply of food for the New Year. We will start to see problems with salads, green vegetables being in short supply in the run-up to New Year." 

According to the British Retail Consortium, 40 per cent of supermarket food imports come via the Dover straits.

The shortages have been partly fuelled by panic buying, with shoppers on Tuesday posting photographs on social media of empty shelves in some supermarkets.

Industry insiders said any problems had also been worsened by families forced to cancel Christmas plans by Boris Johnson’s U-turn on Saturday and making trips to supermarkets to stock up. 

Photographs showed long queues in the early hours in Newcastle, London, Cardiff and in towns and cities around the country.  

"It’s the perfect storm," said Andrew Kuyk, the director general of the Provision Trade Federation, which represents the meat and dairy industry.

Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, appealed to people not to panic buy, telling LBC Radio: "I don’t think anybody should be worried – there is plenty of food in our shops."

But a leading supermarket chain admitted it could be forced to place limits on purchases if delays continued. "The situation can change quite quickly. If we notice a change in customers’ behaviour [stockpiling], you have to take action," said a supermarket source.

Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents most leading supermarkets, told a select committee of MPs on Tuesday: "What we’ve been told by members is unless those borders open fully and the trucks can roll tomorrow back to Spain and Portugal and other parts of Europe, we will have problems with particularly fresh produce from December 27."