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Thousands of truck drivers are expected to wake up on a cold Christmas morning in their vehicles in Kent as truckers await long-awaited negative coronavirus test results and a backlog of key workers queuing to cross the Canal to clear. .
Although the border has been reopened and testing is now in full swing, Christmas is believed to be another roadside day for many of those who have been caught amid new border restrictions on the mutated version of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom.
The British Army is even being recruited to help with logistics.
The delay in carriers seeking to travel through the canal comes despite the efforts of Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps, who on Wednesday night urged truckers to “be patient” as military personnel work to speed up operations. in the county.
A chorus of horns sounded in Dover Harbor on Christmas Eve as those at the front of the queue celebrated finally being able to leave, but many more are expected to be stuck there until at least Boxing Day, which marks nearly a week alone. , many miles from home.
The Kent County Council leader expressed “deep sympathy” for the thousands of stranded truck drivers in the county who will likely not be able to get home to their families in time for Christmas.
Trucks began entering the Eurotunnel again on Wednesday following a 48-hour lockdown after drivers began producing negative Covid-19 results, which they must now do within a 72-hour window before entering France.
However, it is feared that the completion of all the tests could take days, and the scores were still stranded Thursday as the clock ticked to Christmas Day.
Grant Shapps, who on Wednesday night urged truckers to be patient, said the border at Dover, the Eurotunnel and Calais would remain open “through Christmas” for carriers to approve “as soon as possible,” with the help of 10,000 more tests brought in by 26 French firefighters recruited on Thursday.
He added on Thursday: “We need to resolve the situation in Kent, caused by the sudden imposition of Covid restrictions by the French government, as soon as possible.
“Today I have sent special instructions to the Army to take control of the HGV testing and management operations in the county. Our goal is to get foreign carriers home to their families as quickly as possible.
“I know it has been difficult for many drivers locked in their cabins at this beautiful time of year, but I assure you that we are doing everything possible to get them home.”
The testing and support effort is bolstered by an additional 800 military personnel on Christmas Day, as well as 60 soldiers from the Polish armed forces.
Minister James Heappey wrote on Twitter: “Fantastic international effort in Kent. By tomorrow afternoon, nearly 1,000 UK soldiers will deliver tests and welfare to the truckers along with 30 French firefighters and 60 Polish soldiers. Many thanks to all of them for working through Christmas to get the load moving. “
Traffic is moving faster in the Eurotunnel, where more than 1,000 vehicles left Wednesday night, and around 2,000 more are expected to leave late Thursday, but many will remain there on Christmas Day, according to Duncan Buchanan, Policy Director for the Road Transportation Association.
A truck driver told BBC South East that he received a negative coronavirus test before heading to the port, but that it was scheduled to expire before he had a chance to cross due to the accumulation of heavy vehicles.
“Now we have to retest at the port, which adds to the delays,” he said.
Ferries from Dover to Calais will run on Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day in an attempt to carry drivers, some of whom have spent days waiting in their trucks since the border was temporarily closed Sunday night. , home asap.
Drivers, who have been waiting on crowded motorways and at Manston Airport, can now cross the English Channel once they have tested negative for coronavirus, which is being administered by members of the French military and firefighters.
Richard Burnett, director of the Road Transport Association, said he was “relieved” that hauliers were able to move after French authorities demanded a negative test following the emergence of a new, more transmissible strain of coronavirus in the UK, but said it would “take some time” to eliminate the delays.
Volunteers from community groups and businesses have been distributing food parcels to stranded truckers who clashed with police and protested blocking roads amid complaints about the lack of food and sanitation.
Workers at Ashford’s GSE Group, which includes Ashford International Truckstop, Hythe Imperial Hotel & Spa and the Marquis of Granby pub, were busy delivering 1,000 “tote bags” full of food to stranded truckers on Christmas Eve.
Volunteers from the Ashford Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have also put together food packages to distribute on Christmas Eve and December 26.
Images shared on social media show dozens of lined up brown paper bags ready to be packed into waiting vans.
Imran Nisar, project leader of the Muslim charity Al-Khair, which prepared more than 400 lunches for the drivers, said his team of volunteers would continue to deliver supplies until the last truck driver went home, even on Christmas Day if was necessary.
“Some of them don’t even have water in their taxis, so these supplies make a big difference to them and it also boosts their morale,” he said.
Volunteers from the Salvation Army, Sikh groups and others have also helped keep the drivers going.
Sikh humanitarian aid charity Khalsa Aid joined forces with Gravesend businessman Dip Dhillon, who runs several Domino’s pizza franchises, to deliver 2,500 pizzas to truckers on Christmas Eve.
Kent County Council, charities and other groups are providing additional portable toilets, food, and drinking water to haulers who are stranded at a former airfield or on Dover’s main roads.
Fewer than 100 vehicles left the port Wednesday night, but a spokesman said that as testing continued, departure numbers “would increase significantly,” although they were unable to provide figures for Thursday.
Additional reports from the Press Association
