Huge mess at the Port of Dover! – Hungarian drivers tell all

Thousands of trucks are stuck and waiting in huge lines at the Port of Dover. France opened its borders for freight transport, but the testing of drivers takes a lot of time, while drivers get more and more frustrated.

As we reported earlier, a new coronavirus variant was detected in the UK which spreads a lot faster than the formerly known variants. Parts of Great Britain immediately went into complete lockdown, and many countries banned the entrance of planes and ships coming from the UK, Telex reports.

France completely banned the entrance of any kind of vehicles, including freight transport, from Great Britain for 48 hours starting from Sunday midnight which caused huge rows of trucks stuck in the otherwise very busy Port of Dover:

On Monday, the Port of Dover shared on their Twitter account that the ferry transport between the EU and the UK stopped and asked everyone to stay away until the situation clears. A huge line of trucks formed already on Monday, and by Tuesday, there were thousands of them.

On Tuesday afternoon, the European Commission had to ask member states to open their borders or else there will be a cut in supply chains and to free people that work in transport from restrictions such as quarantine and testing.

Ferenc Kumin, the Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, said that the restrictions caused a lot of trouble to many – long lines of trucks were stuck at the Port of Dover, and a lot of drivers spent more than one nights in their trucks.

The British and French governments agreed by Tuesday night that freight transport between the two countries could restart from Wednesday morning. But France only lets people in with a negative rapid coronavirus test, so only those who have it can enter the terminal in Dover. The drivers receive their test results via text that the French authorities will check, and they are allowed to cross the border for 72 hours with a negative test. Testing is done by the British NHS and professionals from the army.

Those who receive positive results will have to quarantine for 10 days. Britain will provide accommodation in this case.

The opening, however, was not so smooth, as the waiting drivers became more and more frustrated because of the delays. The testing of thousands of drivers will probably take more than one days. As the video shows, some even got into fights with the police:

“I was supposed to go to Folkestone, towards the Chunnel, yesterday around noon, but the road was closed, and we were led to an airport that is out of use near Ramsgate. Thousands of truck and van drivers are waiting here. Some say we are 4,000, others say 10,000. A lot of us do not even have food and drinks anymore. Luckily, I stocked up.

Hungarians living in London would have brought us food, but they are not allowed to come in, so they give it to the arriving drivers who then distribute it at the airport. The toilet is at the front of the row, it takes 20 minutes to walk there and, apparently, they also offer warm meals there. I talked to the police this morning, and they said they would start testing everyone at 6 am, and those who are negative could go to the ferry or train. It is 10.30 now, and they are still not here. I am somewhere in the middle of the row,” said one of the Hungarian truck drivers that got stuck in Great Britain.

 “Everyone is stressed and angry. We do not know when we will get home, especially if they don’t remove the truck ban in the EU that would end on the 27^th at night.”

The drivers are helped by Facebook and drivers’ groups, and Hungarians living in the UK are also helping them with food, interpreting, or accommodation. The authorities distribute water, warm food, and supplied mobile toilets to the drivers. At the same time, Waberer’s, for example, is waiting at Calais with buses for its 200 stuck drivers, but no one knows when they will arrive.

The Hungarian Embassy in London informed the drivers on their Facebook site that tests done at locations determined by the British authorities will be accepted, too. Testing so far takes place at Manston Airport and will soon start in Dreamland Park, Margate.

According to the embassy, the supply and completion of tests in the area of Dover are very difficult now, plus the hygienic and meal facilities are limited, too, and will probably stay like this for some days. They ask drivers to arrive at the border with tests possibly made at testing points outside of the area.

Read also“The situation is chaotic!” – Hungarians living in the UK are upset about the latest British restrictions

Source: Telex