Around seven cars and 37 passengers will be passing through the Port of Dover every minute for the entire five-day Easter period.

Elaine Lynch, spokeswoman for Dover Harbour Board, said: "We expect a minimum of around 270,000 passengers over the Bank Holiday Weekend from Thursday to Monday.

"The busiest day is traditionally Good Friday and based on last year's figures we expect more than 72,000 that day alone.

"This is also the busiest day for coaches - around 800 will travel through the port.

"We are expecting four times as many passengers as Heathrow, based on their figures of 60,000 passengers over the same time period.

More than 13 million passengers pass through Dover port in a year.