A town councillor has said that “urgent” action is needed to avoid gridlock congestion on the A20 due to increased port activity.

Cllr Pat Sherratt of the Castle Ward in Dover wrote to the Mercury before Christmas when the port recorded its highest level of freight passing through the town.

Traffic blocked the entrance to roads, such as the Aycliffe estate and main routes into the town centre.

Stacks of cars piled up to the B2011 Capel-le-Ferne junction, on some days reaching the Round-hill Tunnels in Folkestone.

Last week, when forecasters predicted strong winds and torrential downpours, the port became heavily congested.

And this week has seen Operation Stack implemented due to a backlog of traffic from the Channel Tunnel after a fire broke out at the weekend.

Cllr Sherratt said: “It seems very little has been learnt since Christmas, or indeed the many times before, with major congestion all this week.

“There seems little excuse bearing in mind that advance weather forecasts last weekend indicated severe gales over the next week or so.

“It was also known the ferry operators with at least two ships away on annual survey or refit would cause a consequential reduction in capacity.

“Indeed, most of January and February will always see the ships away on refit.

“I emailed Kent Police on Monday (last week), stating that Dover was again suffering from traffic congestion and suggesting that Operation Stack be implemented. There was no acknowledgement from them.”

Motorists experienced long delays up until Wednesday, when Operation Stack was eventually implemented.

Cllr Sherratt pointed out how serious the situation is and that it “will not go away”.

He asked that MP Charlie Elphicke request the port and transport minister Stephen Hammond to review the operational aspects of the port and for him to look at the associated road infrastructure.

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