Coronavirus: Ebbsfleet Covid-19 testing center closes to become a truck park

A coronavirus testing center in Kent was closed to make way for a truck park for post-Brexit customs checks.

One councilor said that the local infrastructure “cannot cope” and that there would be chaos on the M25.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said a final decision has yet to be made.

In July, the government promised £ 470 million in new border infrastructure, which included, if necessary, the construction of additional inland sites across the country where checks can be carried out.

The spokesperson added: “Final decisions on inland sites will not be made until we have established the scope of the new infrastructure to be delivered to the ports.”

However, a leaked letter from Kent County Council reads: “We have also been notified that the Ebbsfleet test center has closed as the site is required by the HMRC for exit from the EU.”

Dartford Labor Councilor Sacha Gosine said: “The infrastructure in Ebbsfleet cannot cope with the trucks.”

He said it would be a “logistical nightmare” for officials.

In September 2019, planning permission was granted to allow temporary use of the Ebbsfleet site for customs clearance until the end of this year.

Work had started on one of the station’s car parks, but was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ebbsfleet station was later used as a Covid testing site with a capacity for around 2,000 tests per day, but earlier this month testing staff were informed “out of nowhere” that the site would be shut down.

A new coronavirus testing center has opened in Rochester.

According to the Cabinet Office, regional test sites such as Ebbsfleet “were installed at high speed”, but the relocation will allow the network to “continue to function as long as necessary.”

The government’s testing system has faced criticism in recent weeks.

Home Secretary Priti Patel defended the system, saying capacity was increasing.