CALAIS – More than a thousand lorries arrived at the French port here yesterday as authorities scrambled to ease a bottleneck in Britain, where thousands of drivers have been stuck for days after France imposed tougher coronavirus rules.
The port remains open despite the Christmas holiday, so that ferries, as well as the trains bringing trucks through the Channel Tunnel, could operate – but only for trips from Britain to France.
“Yesterday, we had 1,000 lorries cross over from Dover. As of 6pm (1700 GMT), we had 1,400 lorries from Britain,” Benoit Rochet, head of the Calais port operator, told AFP.
“At this rate, the situation should be completely taken care of by tomorrow.”
Getlink, the Eurotunnel operator, said more than 1,000 trucks transited the tunnel in both directions by 5pm, two thirds of which had travelled from England to France.
Most of the drivers headed straight for the highway, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Truckers were stranded in southeast England after France halted all travel from Britain last Sunday for 48 hours in a bid to prevent a new strain of the coronavirus, which experts fear to be more contagious, from reaching its shores.
The move created a massive logjam, with up to 10,000 trucks parked along highways as well as on the runway of the Manston airfield, according to European Union transport commissioner Adina Valean, who criticised the French government’s decision.
Drivers fumed at having to spend Christmas in their cabs away from their families with only minimal toilet facilities because they were unable to get the Covid-19 tests that must be negative to be allowed into France.
More than 10,000 tests had been carried out by yesterday afternoon, of which 24 were positive, according to British authorities.
Twenty-five French firefighters were again dispatched to Dover yesterday to help carry out tests, following a first team sent over on Thursday.
French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari tweeted that more than 1,000 Christmas Eve meals were sent to stranded drivers, distributed with the help of French Red Cross volunteers.
Britain’s Defence Ministry yesterday said an additional 800 personnel were deployed on top of 300 already on site to step up virus testing for drivers and “help clear the backlog of vehicles”.
“There is a need for increased testing as more vehicles continue to arrive every hour,” it tweeted, adding that the teams will also deliver food and water to drivers waiting to return home. – AFP, December 26, 2020
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