Port bosses have criticised the Government for giving a tiny fraction of the money it wanted for more French passport controls.

The Port of Dover asked for £33 million but only now it has been offered 0.1% of that (£33,000).

This is for after Brexit for Anglo-French dual border controls under the Le Touquet Treaty.

The Transition Period ends in less that two weeks and the port authority stresses that "the clock is ticking."

A Port spokesman said: "At the 11th hour the Port has only been offered just one 10th of 1% of what was needed.

"For the primary gateway handling unitised trade with the EU, to reach this conclusion so late in the piece undermines so much work by all parties in preparation for the end of the Transition Period."

The port authority says it worked positively with the relevant French and British to keep a smooth flow of traffic under this arrangement following this country's leaving of the European Union.

The UK formally left last January and the Transition Period after that ends on New Year's Eve.

The Port spokesman added: "This work was presented to the UK Government a year ago, with the rationale for a specific project concerning the outbound border controls to be government funded.

"The Port was encouraged to seek funding via the Port Infrastructure Fund to deliver it."

It said this was based on a need for more French passport control booths to compensate for slower transaction times and a reordering of controls within the port.

That was to enable any non-compliant traffic to be detected before reaching the French control.

It also allowed for further EU immigration system changes in 2022.

The authority says the Government’s own border planning assumptions, as well as those of French counterparts,were based on that work and it applied for the money "in good faith."

The spokesman added: "The Port wishes to reassure customers and our community that it will continue working hard to keep traffic flowing.

"It has already shown its resilience by doing so throughout the entire Covid-19 pandemic and more recently as businesses choose Dover in order to stockpile ahead of the end of the Transition Period."

The spokesman also stressed: "Dover will still provide the highest frequency, highest capacity and therefore ultimately the best supply chain resilience as the closest point to Britain's largest trading partner.

"But the lack of financial support will make a smoother transition more difficult.

"This should and still could be avoided as we continue to seek support from Government but the clock is ticking."

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said: "The Port of Dover, and our area as a whole, benefits from tens of millions of pounds spent by the Government on preparation for transition.

“After four years of preparations, both the Port of Dover and Port of Calais recently confirmed that they are as ready as they can be.

“I will continue to support the Port of Dover to make the case, where necessary, for funding or other support it needs to continue to be a great success."

Kent Online is seeking a direct response from the UK Government.

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