Dover delays clear after ‘buffer zone’ empties

Delays at Dover have cleared, with port authorities saying traffic is flowing as normal after days of disruption.

The situation was “all clear” from 00:30 on Monday morning, a port spokesperson confirmed to the BBC.

A “buffer zone” within the port had been emptied of coaches, ferry operators said in an earlier update.

Some people had reported waiting 17 hours at Dover. Officials blamed delays on slow border processing and more coaches than had been expected.

On Monday morning, they again offered an apology and thanked passengers for their patience.

Disruption was first reported on Friday, with bad weather taking some of the blame from ferry operators P&O and DFDS.

The situation saw a “critical incident” declared and affected many holidaymakers’ Easter getaways. Coach passengers were particularly hard-hit.

Border processing times have increased sharply after the UK left the European Union, travel expert Simon Calder told BBC News on Saturday.

He said things were “gumming up” as each individual passport had to be inspected and stamped post-Brexit.

This view was rejected by the home secretary.

Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Suella Braverman blamed a “combination of factors” – including a high volume of coaches.

But the government needed to get a “grip” on the situation, Labour’s shadow levelling-up secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News.

Many coaches that got stuck in Dover were carrying schoolchildren from across the UK on school trips abroad.

Late on Sunday, BBC News received reports of coachloads of children still waiting to cross the Channel having arrived at Dover late the previous day.

Rob Howard, a teacher from Dorset taking a school group to Italy, said they had decided to turn around after waiting for more than 17 hours.