Work on installing the biometric kiosks necessary for the new border checks on both sides of Eurotunnel’s undersea link are gathering pace - but concerns continue about a new app seen as essential to facilitate the new regulations.

The new Entry/Exit System (EES), requires all non-EU nationals entering the European Union to submit fingerprints and facial imaging to ensure entry.

The new requirements - which have been delayed in being introduced - should come into force on October 6.

But there remain concerns an app - designed to help speed up the process by allowing pre-registration - may not be fully rolled out until 2025.

While it is set to be ready by October, it will still require extensive testing - making it highly unlikely to be available this year.

Until then, every British traveller entering the EU will need to manually submit their biometric details as they cross the border in a manner which is likely to, at first at least, lead to delays boarding ferries and the Channel Tunnel service.

Getlink, parent company of Eurotunnel, says it has invested more than £68 million over the last three years at its terminals in Folkestone and Conquelles, in France, to implement the system.

The biometric kiosks are now being installed at its pre-registration building in Coquelles and are expected to be complete by May.

They will sit within a 7,000m sq covered drive-thru area which can accommodate 60 passenger vehicles at any one time and be overseen by French Border Police.

Work in Folkestone is due to begin before the summer with installation of the biometric units and testing being conducted in July.

Yann Leriche, CEO of Getlink, said: “As operator of the Channel Tunnel – the main land border of France – and with over 70% of LeShuttle passengers being British, our objective is to comply with the new EES requirements whilst maintaining the high level of fluidity, speed, and simplicity at the border crossing that our customers value.”

It said it had used AI simulations to replicate passenger flows and, as a result, was confident it could “continue to deliver the most competitive crossing time”.

Supplied by the French manufacturer IN Groupe, some 224 biometric kiosks will be installed in Folkestone and Coquelles.

Officials from the Port of Dover have called for the EES to be further delayed until the likes of the app are up and running to help ease delays which will, inevitably, occur.