More than £10 million has been pledged to help three cross-Channel rail and sea ports ahead of the feared chaos of new border checks.

New European Union rules come into force in the autumn which, with longer checks, are dreaded to cause delays of up to 14 hours.

The British government has announced £10.5m to support preparations at the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone and Eurostar at St Pancras International in London.

From October 6, the EU will introduce the Entry/Exit System (EES) – a new digital border system.

Passengers from the UK and other non-EU countries will have to register at the border by having their fingerprints and photograph taken.

To reduce the risk of queuing and disruption, the UK government is providing funding to help ports install the necessary EES technology and complete work to get their sites ready for the checks coming into force.

Each port will receive a £3.5m funding boost.

At Dover, this money will be used to expedite work on the Granville Dock Project, where the existing marina at the Western Docks will be infilled and used as a site for EES processing.

At Eurotunnel and Eurostar, this funding will be used to install kiosks, in addition to those already installed, undertake rigorous testing to reduce the risk of disruption, and support recruitment and training of staff to contribute to smoother EES implementation.

The Department for Transport says the three ports have been making significant progress in their EES planning and are now on track for a smooth transition ahead of implementation later this year.

Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood said: “Nobody wants to see excessive queues at our ports, which is why we’re providing this funding to ensure our borders are as prepared as possible for the upcoming change – despite EES being an EU initiative.

“Since coming into government, we have been reviewing plans and closely supporting ports to make sure they have the right processes in place so that EES registration can be smooth and queue times kept to a minimum.”

Migration Minister Seema Malhotra has visited the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel today to see the ongoing EES preparations.

She said: “While EES checks will be a significant change to the EU border, we are working hard with the European Commission, member states and ports to ensure we are well prepared, and minimise any disruption for Brits travelling into Europe.

“This additional funding for ports will ensure they have the right technology and processes in place, so that EES registration can take place as smoothly as possible.”

Emma Ward, chief operations officer, Port of Dover, said: We are doing all that we can to be ready with the facilities that will be used by French border officials operating the new system whilst we continue to work with the UK government to deliver more seamless travel between the UK and EU."

Yann Leriche, CEO of Getlink (Eurotunnel) said: “Getlink started working two years ago on the adaptation of its terminal for the new EES regulation.

“This funding will be used to test and add new technology on the UK terminal, that will be deployed during peak periods, providing more kiosks, if needed, in addition to the 106 already installed in the UK, plus the recruitment and training of staff whose focus will be to assist EES passengers.

“The Group has invested more than £70 million since the beginning of the process, designing and building a new dedicated EES Zone on each terminal, making sure that when the new regulation is introduced people will travel through the Channel Tunnel just as easily as they do today.”

A total £9 million of this funding will be provided by the Department for Transport, and £1.5 million will be provided by the Home Office.

St Pancras, Eurotunnel's Folkestone terminal, and Port of Dover are the only ports in the UK which have needed to implement EES, as they are the only ones which have juxtaposed controls. This funding is therefore restricted to them.

The UK is affected by these regulations, having left the EU on January 31, 2020.

Both Ashford council and Kent County Council had warned parliament of the long delays in January.

The “reasonable worst case scenario” was then estimated at 14 hours of delays at Dover.