Europe

Lorries in Kent resume crossing to France as drivers test Covid-negative

Thousands of drivers waiting to resume journey after border with France reopened

The DFDS Seaways ferry Cote des Dunes, loaded with freight lorries, departs from the Port of Dover, Kent, on Christmas Eve. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

Thu Dec 24 2020 - 13:35

Transportation of lorries from Dover to France across the English Channel has resumed on Thursday after drivers returned negative Covid-19 test results.

A DFDS Seaways ferry Cote des Dunes, loaded with freight lorries, departed from the Port of Dover, Kent, this morning, where thousands of drivers have been waiting to resume their journey across the channel after the border with France reopened.

Delays will continue for several days as travellers must be able to show proof of a negative test result carried out within the past 72 hours in order to be able to cross to France. Ferries will also run on Christmas Day.

Drivers, including many who have been waiting in queues since Sunday, are being tested by members of the British military and just-arrived French firefighters.

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More than 2,000 lorry drivers waiting to leave the Port of Dover have already returned negative coronavirus tests, while three have tested positive, British transport secretary Grant Shapps said on Thursday.

Mr Shapps tweeted: "Kent haulier testing results to date – 2,367 tests carried out as of midday, of which: 2,364 negative, 3 positive.

Drivers queue to board a ferry to France on Thursday in Dover. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty

“As the EU Transport Commissioner has tweeted, testing hauliers is not recommended. Spending days in a lorry on your own puts you in an extremely low risk category!”

The Department for Transport could not give figures on how many have been allowed to leave so far, but traffic flow has improved since Wednesday night when fewer than 100 left according to the Port of Dover.

When asked how many lorries have been able to leave via ferry since Sunday, a Port of Dover spokesperson said: “Overnight, due to restrictions on testing, the port received under 100 freight vehicles. However, now testing has fully mobilised at the port we anticipate that figure rising significantly throughout the day.”

Drivers are tested for Covid-19 on Thursday in Dover, United Kingdom. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty

Mr Shapps earlier said ferries from Dover to Calais would run on Christmas Day and Stephen's Day as the French firefighting team and the British military work with NHS Test and Trace to continue testing the thousands of hauliers parked waiting to cross.

‘Pawns in a larger game’

The head of the Road Haulage Association in Britain has accused France of treating drivers like "pawns in a larger game" as the UK stands on the cusp of brokering a deal with the EU – an allegation the French have repeatedly denied.

Richard Burnett sympathised with the hauliers, a small number of whom clashed with police this week after being stopped from heading to the Continent, adding: "It just feels like it's a lever the French have pulled specifically around the Brexit negotiations."

He told the BBC: “We understand that we don’t want the virus to spread but I think we have to think practically about some of the reasons why this has happened.”

Mr Burnett added he was “relieved” hauliers would be able to move after French authorities demanded a negative test following the emergence of a new, more transmissible coronavirus strain in the UK, but added it would “take some time” to clear the backlog.

He added that lorry drivers’ rates of coronavirus infection are much lower than those of workers in other sectors, at between 3 per cent and 6 per cent.

Mr Shapps said France and the UK had agreed to keep the border open at Dover, the Eurotunnel and Calais "throughout Christmas" to get citizens and hauliers cleared "as soon as possible".

He promised ferries will sail on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as 26 French firemen brought 10,000 extra tests to the port on Thursday to help speed up the process.

He said on Twitter: “As well as ensuring ferries will now sail on Christmas and Boxing Day, we’ve also got great co-operation by French firemen working with NHS Test and Trace and our brilliant military in a big effort to clear the backlog created by the French border closure.”

France's ambassador to the UK, Catherine Colonna, added that the two countries were "neighbours, partners, allies and (yes) friends".

Lorries queue to board a ferry to France early on Thursday in Dover, United Kingdom. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty

A disused airfield at Manston has become the main testing centre for hauliers, with drivers required to self-administer swabs in their cabs under supervision.

Trucks began entering the Eurotunnel again on Wednesday after drivers started producing negative Covid-19 results, but it is feared it could take days to carry out all the tests.

Around 170 military personnel, including from 36 Engineer Regiment and 1 Irish Guards, are assisting with testing. – PA

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