UK-France border to stay open at Christmas to clear lorry logjam

Thousands of lorries stranded in Kent

Goods vehicles queue beside parked emergency services vehicles close to the entrance to the Port of Dover on December 24, 2020. AFP

Rail and sea links between the UK and France will stay open over Christmas to clear the backlog of thousands of lorries stranded as a result of restrictions brought in after a new strain of coronavirus was discovered in the UK.

Thousands of European lorry drivers on Wednesday spent a fourth night sleeping in the cabs of their vehicles, which are stuck close to the major cross-Channel port of Dover while the drivers wait to pass a Covid test, as required by France for travel.

About 6,000 trucks were waiting early on Wednesday evening to cross the border, according to the British Department of Transport, including 3,750 vehicles parked at the old Manston airport, which is also a Covid testing site.

The others are stuck on nearby roads in the Kent.

"As testing in Kent continues ... I've spoken to my French counterpart (Jean-Baptiste Djebbari) and we've agreed the UK/French border at Eurotunnel, Dover and Calais will remain open throughout Xmas in order to help hauliers and citizens return home as soon as possible," UK transport minister Grant Shapps wrote on Twitter.

Ferry services do not usually run between Dover and France on Christmas Day.

The huge testing operation, which is being supported by the military, began late on Wednesday, under an agreement between London and Paris to resume the flow of cross-Channel traffic.

France suspended the routes after a potentially more contagious variant of the virus was identified in Britain.

A team of 26 French firefighters arrived in Dover on Thursday with 10,000 tests to help the British and accelerate the return of European citizens, according to France's ambassador to Britain, Catherine Colonna.

They aim to restore Britain's supply chain, which is highly dependent on hauliers shuttling to and from mainland Europe, before shortages develop, and to enable European hauliers and passengers to head home.

The EU's transport commissioner, Adina Valean, estimated that 10,000 European truckers were having difficulties returning from the UK.

She criticised France for imposing the snap freight restrictions, criticisms rejected by Paris.

British MP Natalie Elphicke, the representative for Dover, backed the commissioner, tweeting that there was "no excuse for France's irresponsible behaviour in closing the border".

"The EU Commissioner for Transport is right in her condemnation of France's decision and actions."

More than 50 countries imposed travel restrictions on the UK after it was announced that a variant of Covid-19 had appeared in the country, although France went a step further by also imposing a freight ban.