Gridlocked roads and disastrous border delays in Kent are being predicted by haulage industry bosses, as the effects of Brexit continue to impact the county.

Since the beginning of 2022, miles-long queues of HGVs have been commonplace on the approach to the Port of Dover.

The delays have been caused in part by lorries taking goods from the UK to to EU having to use the Goods Vehicle Movement System (GVMS) so they can get through customs and beyond the border.

Before January 1, goods could be exported and the accompanying paperwork could be submitted up to two months after.

But now drivers have to make sure the paperwork is completed before the vehicle is on the ferry, leading to more checks in Dover than in pre-Brexit times.

One boss at the Road Haulage Association has said the overall picture is positive as they are not currently seeing 'total chaos' at the busy port.

Others in the industry do not share this optimism, and are warning of even greater problems on the horizon.

Mike Parr, managing director of Perishable Movements Ltd (PML), says the situation is heading in a swiftly downward trajectory.

He said: "There's a lot worse to come and I don't think anybody realises this. We warned there would be delays, which there have been.

"But I'm actually dreading when EU products start to be examined, because we don't have enough staff now for them to cope. How are they going to cope with every single meat, fish, dairy product from the EU on top of that all being examined.

"If you think the queues are bad now, you wait until they bring in the checks on all EU products. It's going to be ridiculous, it really will be."

From July 1, all inbound products from the EU, such as live animals, meat products and high-risk non-animal foods will be subject to physical checks at a Border Control Post (BCP).

At the moment, the only two facilities operating as BCPs are the 66-acre Sevington Inland Border Facility in Ashford, and the Port of Dover.

PML, which specialises in transporting perishable goods, opened a £6m satellite hub at Lympne Distribution Park near Hythe last month.

The firm hoped the site would be considered by HMRC as a potential BCP to alleviate some of the strain on Sevington, but Mr Parr explained their application had been rejected.

The logistics boss believes in its current state Sevington does not have the staffing levels or infrastructure to cope with the sheer volume of checks required from July.

He said: "The facility in Sevington will not be man enough to handle all the product, they really do need to look at private companies handling their own BCPs."

Mr Parr was less than complimentary towards the government for their handling of import and export post-Brexit.

He said: "I don't think they understand the business to be honest with you. They don't have a clue.

"I've done this for 40 years, and everything I said would happen has happened now.

"Once the controls for EU come into place it'll be ten times worse."

KentOnline contacted the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and were told that government are constructing a third inland border control post site somewhere in Kent, but gave no further details on its potential location.

Regarding Sevington, an HMRC spokesperson said: "Sevington Inland Border Facility is the largest and busiest of our IBFs (Inland Border Facility), processing over 6,000 vehicles in an average week.

"Performance at all IBF locations is constantly monitored, and although there will be instances when vehicle processing times take longer than we would like, the vast majority of vehicles are processed quickly and efficiently."

The logistics are already proving so complicated to navigate, that one Sittingbourne-based business has almost entirely halted their overseas haulage.

Mike Sellar, owner of MAS Car & Commercial on the Eurolink Industrial Estate, used to haul rice cakes over the border to Belgium two to three times a week.

But increased costs as a result of longer wait times to travel across the border have made him think carefully about how worthwhile the trade is.

He said: "It was quite a nice job until we had all the issues.

"No one wants to pay another £250 to bring rice cakes in when there's so little in it anyway, and what I've noticed when speaking to any European driver now is that they don't want to come to England.

"Why wouldn't they just want to do stuff in France, Germany and Spain where there's no issues and they haven't got any customs paperwork to deal with?"

Mr Sellar and his staff have spent countless occasions stuck in the Dover Traffic Access Protocol (TAP) along the A20 as they wait to access the port itself.

While Dover TAP is on, a 40mph speed restriction, which applies to all vehicles approaching Dover via the A20, is introduced.

Lorry drivers are asked to remain in the left lane of the A20, from the Roundhill Tunnel, and queue until they reach the port.

Mr Sellar said: "They've got to smooth the issues out at the entrance to Dover docks to warrant drivers wanting to be sitting up on Jubilee Way for hours on end.

"There are not enough customs people at the docks checking paperwork - if they're insisting on checking the paperwork and you've got two kiosks for thousands of people, it's not enough."

Hauliers aren't the only sufferers of Dover TAP.

Residents living in Aycliffe, a village situated right next to the congested road, are still living with constant noise and pollution issues - a story KentOnline published in December 2020.

Cllr Chris Precious, who lives in Aycliffe, has spent the past 15 years campaigning to get a bypass built which would remove freight vehicles from the proximity of homes in the village.

He said: "They're there all night. Noise and exhaust pollution all night long.

"When they introduced masks it was almost a blessing for Aycliffe, because at least we had something to protect us from the pollution."

Cllr Precious also said bottles of urine are still being thrown into people's gardens and along the roadside of the A20 - a last resort for drivers stuck in their cabs for hours on end.

And with the increased paperwork regulations, his chief concern is TAP having to be implemented more regularly, causing greater pollution than ever before.

He added: "Any addition just increases the number of lorries that just sit on this road."

A Kent County Council spokesperson said: "Dover presents unique challenges as people travelling to the port are not able to avoid going through the town.

"While the traffic management scheme TAP is a useful tool to regulate HGV flows into the Port of Dover, the fact it is currently being used at least 2-3 times a week highlights the severe fragility of the existing border-related infrastructure in Kent.

"KCC will continue to push for investment and a move to smart borders.

"Working with our partners in the Kent Resilience Forum, we will also press for improved measures in road and border infrastructure, lorry holding capacity and much else, to reduce the vulnerability of both Kent and the UK to shocks and disruptions in the Short Straits."

Another perhaps less-visible consequence of post-Brexit security checks is the knock-on effect of prices on the supply chain.

A food business in Folkestone is already seen the effects of border delays and has had to increase prices as a result.

Adrian Ling, managing director of Plamil Foods, said: "All these delays and extra checks actually add to the consumer price. So people will be paying for it, and that's partly why we're seeing prices rise.

"We've already seen delays coming in, struggles to get products in, ingredients in, and delays even to equipment.

"As was predicted, we are just starting to see the reality coming through. There are no upsides to this at all."

The food boss added: "The government has no idea what's coming along, but then I don't think they actually care. Brexit was always political, not practical."

Sarah Laouadi, head of international policy for Logistics UK, said: "Post-EU exit border requirements that require checks on products of animal origin will mean that there is more pressure on the border, something that is especially challenging when the system has to deal with exceptional situations - whether it is vessel maintenance or any other adverse event as we have seen in January.

"As additional checks are introduced at the border, it is vital that vehicles arriving there do so with the correct paperwork to minimise potential delays but some element of friction is unavoidable as vehicles will not be able to move freely across the border as they did before Brexit.

"We also need Government to take urgent steps to put the industry in the position to deliver on the next stage of the import timetable. In particular, businesses need full clarity on the availability of Border Control Posts for agrifood checks, including detailed operational information such as the types of goods that will be accepted at each location."