Dover queues for ferries reach 12 hours as travellers stranded overnight – live

Long queues at the Port of Dover have seen travellers queuing for up to 12 hours in significant traffic delays as the Easter getaway begins.

A critical incident was declared overnight on Friday and operators P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways reported delays to ferry and coach services, citing bad weather and hold-ups at French border controls as partly responsible.

In a statement on Saturday morning, the port blamed the delays on “lengthy French border processes and sheer volume” of people travelling.

An environmental campaigner named Rosie, who persuaded her family to take the coach rather than fly to France, said the situation in Dover was “absolute carnage.”

She told Sky News that she had waited for 12 hours and they were facing at least another two-hour delay before begin processed, adding: “Nobody has come to see us to say anything.”

A spokesman for the Port of Dover said just before 9am on Saturday: “Coach waiting time is still several hours, but tourist cars are getting through OK.”