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P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways say sailings hit by bad weather, surge of Easter getaways and border control hold-ups in France

PA Media

Fri 31 Mar 2023 17.22 EDT

The Port of Dover has declared a critical incident as high levels of traffic caused lengthy delays for coach passengers.

P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways also reported delays to ferry and coach services, citing bad weather and hold-ups at French border controls.

P&O Ferries announced on Twitter just before 9pm that it was providing refreshments to coach passengers waiting at the cruise terminal and working on getting food and drink to passengers waiting in the buffer zone at the entrance to the port.

The port said high volumes of coach traffic were due to the Easter holidays.

A spokesperson said: The Port of Dover can confirm that a critical incident is under way as the port is currently experiencing high volumes of coach traffic due to the Easter holidays. Our present high volumes, combined with extended processing at border controls, has resulted in lengthy delays for coach passengers. The port, ferry operators and other partners are working hard to resolve the current issue.

The port added: We apologise for the inconvenience these delays may have caused to passenger journeys and thank all port users for their patience at this time.

A spokesperson for DFDS Seaways said: The queues at Dover today have been as a result of bad weather causing delays to sailings, combined with high volumes of traffic, and particularly coach groups.

DFDS is working to keep passengers up to date via its website and social media channels, and is transporting passengers on the next available sailing once they have checked in.

It has also been working with coach operators to speed up the check-in process for coach passengers.

Both DFDS and P&O have been publishing updates on Twitter.

P&O Ferries Updates tweeted at 7.40pm that the delay for coaches was due to the time it is taking to process each vehicle at French border controls.

DFDS UK Updates tweeted at 7.07pm that services to France were running with delays of up to 2 hours due to the winds in the channel.

On Friday morning, at 11.18am, the company tweeted that coach traffic was very busy with 120 minutes wait at border controls.

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Port of Dover declares critical incident as coaches face long wait to board ferries - The Guardian