More than 25,000 Covid tests were carried and some 14,000 lorries were moved on as part of a mammoth challenge to get HGV drivers out of the country last week.

Statistics revealed today by Kent Police show how agencies worked together to solve the mayhem.

Police forces including Hampshire, Leicestershire and West Mercia were called in to help, and countless kind-hearted people and businesses donated food for Kent County Council to dish out to stranded truckers.

The total, about 8,400 hot meals were handed out.

After it was decided that only those with a negative Covid test could cross the Channel, mass testing was introduced and run by the Army.

Police figures reveal that 14,659 HGVs were subsequently transported across to France as a result of the testing, with more than 25,000 tests being administered.

Sixty-eight drivers tested positive for the virus.

Nine days after the Christmas chaos began, the makeshift lorry park at Manston is now only holding about 30 trucks.

About 100 lorry drivers still remain in Operation Brock on the M20.

Assistant Chief Constable Claire Nix said: "Last week saw an unprecedented and unforeseeable level of disruption which affected not just Kent but most of the country, such is the importance of the Short Straits route in terms of goods that enter and leave the UK.

"In Kent we felt the effects of the disruption more than most and behind our collective efforts to get the county moving again there are some statistics and facts that we wanted to share with everyone."

Chief Constable Nix is now the Kent Resilience Forum's planned response to potential disruption in the county as a result of the end of Brexit.

KCC leader Roger Gough said: "These statistics tell one half of the story and go some way to show the huge logistical challenges that arose during the crisis.

"As a group of partner agencies our number one goal was, and continues to be, to keep people safe and keep the county moving.

"Of course, we’ve also been amazed and moved by the kindness and humanity shown by people who have rallied to help in whatever way they can.

"We recognise the pain for many drivers caught up in this and separated from their families at Christmas - yet the Christmas spirit was very much alive in Kent."

At the height of the disruption, Kent Police called in mutual aid from police forces including Hampshire, Leicestershire and West Mercia, while the majority of officers were placed on extended shifts or picked up extra duties over the Christmas holidays."

In order to put the M20 contraflow in place, Highways England installed its movable barrier within 12 hours – an operation that often requires two consecutive night time closures.

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