Support for further measures on ferry port traffic

Calls for British holidaymakers to undergo border checks at a site away from the Port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel have received cross-party support.

Liberal Democrats on Kent County Council tabled a motion asking for new measures to handle road traffic caused by delays to cross-Channel travel.

In total 67 councillors backed the motion, with the Reform UK administration's cabinet member for transport Peter Osborne saying officers would write to the government.

The multi-agency Kent and Medway Resilience Forum said measures already in place would "help to keep Kent moving during the busy getaway period".

The council motion included a call for the inland border facility at Sevington near Ashford, which is currently used by freight traffic, to be used for managing queuing traffic.

According to the document, this could "alleviate" potential delays from new European Union border checks known as the Entry/Exit system (EES).

The biometric checks are not yet underway at English ports after French technical setbacks but have led to delays at some European airports.

There was consensus among councillors that EES, along with the M20's freight management system Operation Brock, could have a massive impact on Kent roads beyond the channel ports, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Opposition leader Antony Hook said: "When our roads paralyse, local commerce bleeds.

"When Kent becomes synonymous with gridlock visitors avoid the county altogether, starving our vital hospitality and tourism sectors of crucial summer revenue."

Osborne said the local authority was "already pursuing" much of what the council motion called for.

"It is irrational and illogical that the county's and the country's critical gateway to Europe is obstructed in this way on such a regular basis," he said.

Officials already have plans in place for Lydden Hill Race Circuit near the A2 to be used to hold Europe-bound traffic as a last resort.

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