A row has erupted over who is to blame for the chaos at the Port of Dover – which has created travel mayhem.

French authorities have pointed the finger at an unexpected ’technical issue’ in the Channel Tunnel, insisting it delayed their border police teams from deploying in Kent this morning.

But Eurotunnel bosses state "that is absolutely not the case", and that the problems started "well before" the glitch.

It comes after a critical incident was declared this morning as the border confusion gridlocked the town, leaving residents unable to get to work and children stuck on school buses.

Traffic was said to stretch back for miles, but the Port of Dover has since announced "traffic is slowly beginning to move, but it will take some time to clear the backlog".

Its CEO, Doug Bannister, said he did not know when traffic would clear completely.

He told KentOnline: "We have a lot of congestion that is trapped around on the road ways.

"Right now we're focussing on getting people travelling.

"That's our main area of purpose right now. And after that we'll focus on what went wrong with resourcing levels."

Since this morning, motorists queuing for the Port of Dover have been told they face waits of more than four hours due to issues with French border control.

Declaring a critical incident this morning, Mr Bannister said the border controls are "insufficiently resourced" and advised motorists to hold off on travelling to the town.

However, French police maintain the technical issue is the reason for the delays.

In a statement, Georges-Francois Leclerc, the prefet for the Haut-de-France region, said: "The increase in traffic for this weekend was fully anticipated and a suitable deployment was prepared.

"Based on a close analysis of predicted traffic, the plan was to have all the police booths manned (at Dover) by 8:30am.

"However an unforeseeable technical incident in the tunnel meant police had to push back their full deployment by an hour. It was not until 9.45am that the booths were fully operational."

This evening, the French Embassy in the UK tweeted to say the French border checks in Dover were "operating in full capacity".

Despite this, Eurotunnel official John Keefe told the BBC the "unforeseeable incident" could not be why French border staff were unable to deploy fully.

“The incident at the port started overnight well before a minor technical incident in the Channel Tunnel," he added.

"There is absolutely no correlation between the two."

Reacting to the claims, Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said: "Quelle surprise.

"It’s critical French border officials turn up for work tomorrow at the Port of Dover and that the passport controls are working at full capacity.

"Further significant delays are expected over the weekend."

Roads around the Dover port, throughout the town and on the approach were gridlocked, with Dover TAP in place and stationary cars lining roads for miles.

But as of 6.15pm there were reports of the congestion easing, with the A2 Jubilee Way among the routes to be clear.

This evening, there remain delays of up to five hours at the Eurotunnel near Folkestone due to exceptionally high demand, with tourists trying to use the service instead of the port.

In the town, Maison Dieu Road has been at a complete standstill, with traffic also backing up in Park Avenue, Castle Hill Road and Godwyne Road.

Public transport was heavily affected by the delays, with Stagecoach tweeting it is "unable to serve Dover at present". At about 3pm, the bus firm said the traffic is "now clearing in Dover".

Queues of about five miles have been reported on the M2 approach to Brenley Corner in Faversham due to checks for lorries trying to bypass the M20 holding area for Operation Brock.

Throughout the day, residents living in Dover were reportedly abandoning their cars in order to get to work, while the council leader said school children were getting stuck on buses.

One local tweeted: "Many Dover residents having to abandon cars to get to work this morning. Would be nice to offer free parking in local car parks today to help."

Stagecoach has also reported problems in Folkestone due to the closure of the Roundhill tunnel.

Joel Mitchell, Stagecoach South East Managing Director said at lunchtime: "Our local teams are working hard to reduce the impact on our bus services, but the situation is causing considerable disruption in east Kent.

"Local buses in the Dover and Folkestone areas are most affected, with services between Folkestone and Canterbury currently suspended.

"Buses trapped in traffic gridlock causes disruption to the lives of thousands of local people who rely on our services.

WATCH: Holidaymakers speak out after getting stuck in Dover

"Repeat episodes of disruption are damaging east Kent's already battered economy and have a long-term impact on the viability of local transport networks.

"Kent urgently needs a permanent off-highway solution to congestion caused by channel crossing delays."

The Roundhill Tunnels on the A20 have been closed since this morning.

On social media drivers have posted to tell of aborted journeys and missed appointments.

East Kent Hospitals trust, which runs Buckland hospital in Dover, has also asked patients to be careful when travelling to the health centre.

MP for Dover and Deal, Natalie Elphicke said: "This is not the start to a summer break that anyone would have wanted to see with families and lorries stuck for hours in traffic trying to get on a ferry at Dover.

"I am doing everything I can to see the situation is improved. More needs to be done to keep Dover clear.

"There have been weeks of preparation by the Port of Dover, Kent Resilience Forum and Department for Transport for this summer get away peak weekend. There was much work with French counterparts too.

"Despite all this, French Border Officers didn’t turn up for work at the passport controls as needed. This has caused massive delays.

"More French officers are reported to be arriving. It’s vital that the French passports controls are fully staffed during this peak holiday period."

This morning, a spokesperson for the Port of Dover said staff were "deeply frustrated" at the "wofeully inadequate" resources at the French border overnight and first thing.

"We have worked particularly hard, and extremely positively up to now, with our Police Aux Frontieres (PAF) colleagues over recent months to plan for the traffic volumes that were fully expected," they added.

"We have shared traffic volumes in granular detail with the French authorities in order that these volumes can be matched by adequate border resource.

"The Dover route remains the most popular sea route to France and France remains one of the key holiday destinations for British families.

"We know that resource is finite, but the popularity of Dover is not a surprise. Regrettably, the PAF resource has been insufficient and has fallen far short of what is required to ensure a smooth first weekend of the peak summer getaway period."

The Port has vowed to "continue to work with all Kent partners" to look after those caught in lengthy queues.

The leader of Dover District Council, Cllr Trevor Bartlett, has said there is 'dismay, desperation, and anger' in the town.

He said: "“Hours of planning by the Kent Resilience Forum for the busiest weekend of the year for cross-Channel travel have gone out of the window within hours, with the Port of Dover calling a critical incident.

“Alongside the delays for tens of thousands of tourists, the local community is the biggest loser.

WATCH: Traffic on Maison Dieu Road this morning

"Residents can’t get to work, children are stranded on school buses stuck in the mayhem, and businesses are suffering. Stagecoach has suspended bus services in Dover altogether.

“I wrote to the Kent Resilience Forum three weeks ago to express my concerns and to call for a more proactive approach to keep Dover clear. Those calls were not heeded.

“Serious questions need to be asked about how the emergency services would be able to respond to a major incident in Dover when it is completely grid locked, and how this situation has been allowed to develop yet again?”

Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone, said revealed on his Twitter that more staff had arrived in Calais: "The Roads Minister @CharlotteV has confirmed to me that ferries are departing from Dover normally and that the French authorities have now provided more staff to process their border checks.

"It’s totally unacceptable however that these unnecessary delays have occurred."

At 1pm, the Port of Dover said "traffic is slowly beginning to move, but it will take some time to clear the backlog".

A spokesman said: "The Port is working to do all it can with ferry operators and local partners to assist with clearing the queues caused by inadequate French border capacity.

"Resource at the French border has increased this morning and traffic is slowly beginning to move, but it will take some time to clear the backlog.

"Passengers need to come prepared with water, food and supplies and to check with their chosen ferry operator for the latest information and advice.

"Passengers are also asked to avoid trying back routes to reach the port as that makes the situation worse, particularly for local residents.

"Continual high holiday traffic volumes are fully expected, and our freight customers also remain significantly delayed, so we urge French colleagues to adequately resource the border, not just to relieve the current situation, but for the rest of the weekend and indeed the rest of the summer to keep our community clear, to get families on their holidays and to keep essential trade moving.

"The Port urges the UK government to continue working with French counterparts in order to ensure this is the case."

Cross Channel passengers were warned yesterday that there could be hold-ups leading into what is expected to be one of the busiest weekends of the year.

Schools across the country broke up yesterday, meaning there is going to be an influx of families looking to travel to Europe on holiday.

It is not the first time this year that people living in Dover have been affected by gridlocked roads - in April the town became a 'no go zone' with roads congested and people having to walk to work due to problems at the port.

Read more: Dover TAP and queuing lorries keep Aycliffe residents up at night

Listen to kmfm for updates.