Kent Police says it has no plans to block officers’ leave in the run up to or after the new Brexit deadline.

Prior to the original date for the UK’s departure from the EU, the force had placed a temporary embargo on leave — but only for a month after March 31.

Officers who had booked leave ahead of the freeze were permitted to take it.

A statement from the force said there were currently no plans to implement a similar veto.

It read: “Kent Police continues to plan for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union but has no plans for an officer leave embargo at this time.

“The force, like all large organisations, has a threshold for the number of officers allowed leave at any one time to ensure it can continue to protect the public and help partner agencies keep the county moving.”

A dossier leaked to the Sunday Times detailing the government’s Brexit contingency plans warned that there could be a risk of a rise in “public disorder and community tensions”.

According to the report on Operation Yellowhammer, there are concerns that there could be violent protests between Brexit supporters and those against leaving.

The extent of the impact of Brexit on security issues was underlined in May, when it emerged Kent Police had calculated that dealing with the impact of a ‘no deal’ Brexit on the county could have cost nearly £20 million over just three months.

The estimated costs would have included the need for extra police to be deployed around the ports to deal with disruption and delays caused by longer customs checks and managing the implementation of different stages of Operation Brock — the scheme to keep traffic moving along the M20 London bound carriageway.

It would also have reflected possible overtime for Kent Police and other forces brought in to help operations.

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