More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
France's travel ban on lorry drivers entering from the UK without a negative Covid-19 test has been labelled "unnecessary" by the Transport Secretary.
The Kent lorry crisis is nearing an end as monumental testing efforts yesterday saw hundreds of thousands of truckers swabbed and cleared.
Drivers had been stranded since France imposed - and later lifted - a ban on all inbound travel from the UK following news a more virulent Covid-19 strain was "out of control".
An agreement was struck to reopen the Port of Dover provided drivers returned a negative lateral flow test.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today told Sky News the France travel ban was "unnecessary" and "inconvenient" for everyone and said he hoped the testing of lorry drivers would stop "as soon as possible".
"We know that even the European Commisson have said they do not support this testing of hauliers at borders," he said.
"For one simple reason; what we have discovered in probably 20,000 tests that have been carried out by later this evening is that very few of these drivers have coronavirus.
"A much lower percentage than you'd find in the general population."
He went on to explained he did not think there was ample justification to close the border for more than two days.
Mr Shapps said: "When you do that naturally there is nowhere for people to go and you end up with these huge queues of lorries which is very inconvenient for everyone and some people missed their Christmas too."
The government minister said he was looking forward to the process being withdrawn and explained their would be a review date next Wednesday with a final date of January 6.
"We'd like to get rid of it as soon as possible," he added.
His comments comes after more than 3,000 lorries spent their Christmas eve stuck at Manston which was transformed into a makeshift lorry park.
Images were beamed to audiences around the world which saw huge queues of truckers fill up the former airport and others stuck on the M20 as part of Operation Brock.
The conditions led to an outpouring of goodwill and community action by faith groups and volunteers preparing and delivering thousands of meals to hungry truckers.
Elsewhere, villagers were lowering bags of food and Domino's delivered more than 1,000 pizzas to the drivers stranded on the M20, while some helped secure showers for hauliers stranded without toilet and wash facilities.
However, as of midday yesterday the backlog at Manston had been cleared and the Department for Transport confirmed to KentOnline this afternoon only a "very small number" of lorries remain on site who have parked up while they resolve mechanical issues.
Congestion is continuing to east at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel, although more drivers who did not get stuck in the jam before Christmas are expected to join the queue.
Some delays to ferry services were also experienced overnight due to Storm Bella, as some vessels needed to shelter at the peak of the storm.
Meanwhile, the Port of Dover is working with emergency services and the Army to try and get the remainder of stranded truckers home.
It said this afternoon all vessels were back and running an optimised schedule as before the storm.
More than 8,000 HGVs have crossed the border via Eurotunnel or the Port of Dover since December 23.
Of 15,526 drivers tested, 36 have returned positive results.
