Holidaymakers sailing from the Port of Dover are being warned to expect two-and-a-half hour delays this week.

Bosses at the port issued the alert ahead of many schools in England and Wales breaking up for summer on Friday.

Enhanced post-Brexit passport checks by French border officials Police Aux Frontieres (PAF) have significantly increased processing times.

Port bosses have taken a series of measures aimed at minimising queues during the summer getaway.

Installation of an additional PAF booth is expected to be completed before Friday, and hour-by-hour traffic flow projections have been created.

The port is also continuing to use a new system for processing coach passengers, involving Advanced Passenger Information checks being carried out away from the main port facility during busy periods.

This was first introduced for the May half-term after some coach passengers were stuck at the port for more than 10 hours during Easter.

Recently there have been several more incidents of delays at the border, and the port is now urgin car passengers embarking on summer getaways from Friday to arrive three hours before their booked sailing.

This is up from two hours last year, while before the end of the Brexit transition period the port gave no advice for when people should turn up.

Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister said: “When passengers arrive at the Port of Dover, they will be processed through border controls – anticipated to take around 90 minutes on peak days.

“However, our modelling indicates that processing times may be up to two-and-a-half hours during the peak hours of 6am to 1pm during the first couple of Saturdays and Sundays of the summer holidays, due to the extreme popularity of these days.

“We care about every passenger that chooses to travel via the Port of Dover and have worked hard to ensure the best experience possible as they transit through on their summer holidays.”

Mr Bannister told the PA news agency his staff have done “everything we possibly can” to minimise delays.

He went on: “People would anticipate if they’re travelling at very popular times on very busy days there will be some queuing.

“We can’t plan for unforeseen circumstances such as technical issues, industrial action or road traffic accidents on the approaches into the port.

“If these happen that could throw us some more challenges.

“What Dover has demonstrated time and time again is that we can be very resilient in our operations and clear the disruption very quickly.”

Deal and Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said she was “working tirelessly” to minimise problems at the port.

“I have been assured that French Border Police will turn up in the numbers that are required to keep the traffic flowing,” she added.

“While I am hopeful that things will run smoothly, I am pressing Ministers and Kent Police to take swift action to keep Dover clear in the event of tailbacks. This is expected to be the busiest period since the pandemic and traffic delays are expected.”

National Highways is to trial a ‘quiet zone’ on the A20 near Aycliffe in Kent in a bid to reduce noise pollution when the A20 TAP is holding cross channel freight heading to the Port of Dover.

Mrs Elphicke added that the new zone was “a small step in the right direction”.

“I have raised this over months and indeed years with Ministers and in Parliament. Residents have been kept up by lorry drivers honking their horns, revving their engines and by noisy chiller units for too long.

“This measure in itself is unlikely to be enough to stop the disturbances. What we really need to see is the Dover TAP system is scrapped altogether and moved away from Aycliffe back to the Courtwood junction.”