Long, long delays leaving the UK from Dover. The BBC website reports:
"Kent County Council said only three out of a potential seven booths were available overnight at French border control.
At one stage only one French officer was available to check passengers on hundreds of coaches, resulting in each coach taking 40 minutes to process, said the council."
The French never did understand the concept of customer service - I blame the revolution.
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Officially yesterday they were saying it was due to a combination of security, as a result of Nice, not enough border staff on the French side, and high traffic volumes.
Unofficially ... who knows?
Still, you get what you vote for. (Oops wrong thread :-) )
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Plenty of reports on the queues, one family had spent 6 hours to travel a mile. Mind you i suppose they'd be used to it down there, it seems quite a common occurrence of huge queues getting to the ferry.
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We've been travelling to France at least annually since 1999. Impression for pretty well all of that time, including after the juxtaposed controls were introduced, was of a UK to France border, at least for for tourists, little different to a Schengen frontier. Lost track of times we passed through unmanned booths at Calais/Dunkerque or did no more than show a clutch of UK passports at Dover without even lowering car window.
If French are now applying UK type controls, examining and machine reading each passport and checking identity against passport photo, never mind selective checking of vehicles, there's no wonder it's causing a queue.
Seems they've now called in re-inforcements from UK Borderforce.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 24 Jul 16 at 10:29
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Quite agree Bromp, I'm a frequent traveller to Folkestone and Dover ferry user, UK drivers have got so used to virtually turning up at Dover and more or less driving straight onto the ferry with hardly any delays or checks from the French boarder controls over here.
Any slight hold-up completely stops the flow of traffic.
I can't see it getting any better as times goes on.
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>>Quite agree Bromp
Depends on what car I was driving.
In the BMW 3 series I was never stopped by customs in France in or out.
In the red Audi A4 3.2l v6 convertible, I was stopped every time on the way back.
Very polite they were too, but very predictable; the car in front was directed to a separate lane, then I was, then the car behind me was. The other cars were glanced over. I got the dogs around my car, boot opened, glove box opened etc.
I always wondered if they tracked the car (Calais to Lyon then Dusseldorf then Amsterdam), I guess it would have looked suspicious! It was all for work mind.
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I look suspicious. I just do. I have flown more than anyone else I know, I have used ferries, I have driven across borders, I have walked and bus'd across borders.
I am *always* stopped. I would be a rubbish drug mule.
Unless I am travelling with my unusually polite and multi-lingual children.
*That's* the way to go smuggling, with kids.
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Bonjour Brexiteers. You don't want Europe? You want tighter border controls. You want your gateau and you want to eat it. Bienvenue!
I was last off the boat at Dieppe last Monday - and was complaining that it had taken 40mins from docking to exiting port! Let the lemmings stay on the island!
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Flew into the UK recently from the Netherlands.Huge queues at Schipol to get out and then landed at Southend where it took over half an hour just to process one plane-that was longer than the duration of the flight.There were three immigration officers-one dealt with three Japanese and the other two processed the EU citizens.Those two were watched by three senior? staff and two policemen.
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We'll be OK in a couple of years, I remember Movi saying one thing he wanted was a Brit passport only entry line back into the UK. I suppose the booze cruises become less profitable though Pat, cos you'll be back to a limit of 200 fags and 1 litre of booze.
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 24 Jul 16 at 11:27
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>> We'll be OK ina coup,e of years, I remember Movi saying one thing he wanted
>> was a Brit passport only entry to the UK. I suppose the booze cruises become
>> less profitable though Pat, cos you'll be back to a limit of 200 fags and
>> 1 litre of booze.
>>
It would be a shame if they stop as the booze cruisers help keep the cost of ferrys lower!
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Do people still do booze cruises? I thought they stopped in the 90s. Last time I went the beer was about the same price.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 24 Jul 16 at 14:50
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>>It would be a shame if they stop as the booze cruisers help keep the cost of ferrys lower!
Whilst that is true, the inordinate profits for the ferry companies in Duty Free shops will return.
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That's fine by me Smokie, I'm happy to make a small personal sacrifice for the greater good of the country and future generations.
Pat
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Looks like the delays have carried on into today. Report on the BBC that a family from the W Midlands have spent 24 hours travelling to get to the ferry.
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I have no issue with proper border control. But are the French also doing the same for refugees/illegal immigrants coming from Middle East? Guess I know the answer.
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>> I have no issue with proper border control. But are the French also doing the
>> same for refugees/illegal immigrants coming from Middle East? Guess I know the answer.
They arrive by sea. Either in Greece from Turkey or Italy from North Africa. Refugees are not the same thing as illegals.
Have you heard of the Schengen agreement?
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 25 Jul 16 at 09:50
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This sauce Hollandaise is a childish response to Brexit and it is short sighted. The French economy is a mess and British tourists must be a nice earner. Already many of us are shunning "b***** Abroad" in favour of the doubtful pleasures of staycations and this tantrum is bound to make more of us reluctant to venture overseas.
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That, and the poor exchange rates may put people off. But the exchange rates are just a blip, so I'm reliably informed by people in the know:-)
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French security seems to be a shambles - and don't even mention the word 'Nice'. Deliberately visible policing in my part of France, hundreds of kilometres from any border, is about endless roadside checks and more radar traps, with armed police standing about on roundabouts and gendarmes riding around the streets crammed four to a Clio. But there has been no move to stop or control public gatherings, as was originally declared in the 'state of emergency'. The whole thing seems ridiculous. But no doubt the Gendarmerie will be out in force as usual next month to police the almost non-existent crowds at the Tour du Limousin cycle race.
Meanwhile, not long ago I was to-ing and fro-ing over the Italian border at Menton, where there have been recent, though scantily reported, problems with 'refugees' trying to enter France from the south. Passport checks are in operation at the railway station in Vintimiglia and Italian soldiers in rather fetching Alpine feathered headgear have reopened the old border posts on the upper and lower main roads into France. I saw no sign of French police, except for two members of some unit or other, sitting in deckchairs under a parasol beside the railway just the French side of the border.
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I'd be grateful if anyone could offer advice. Travelling from the North to Dover, should we go M2, A2 or M20, A20 ?
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Been told today that it is pretty much business as usual now at the port. The coach company I travel with have had no delays and expect to get to Spain at the usual time.
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Depends when Hawkeye. Google is showing the Dover end of the M20 is now clear but there is some blockage much further up - could just be an accident.
Coming from the North I'd have thought the M2 A2 would have been your route of choice, and that looks clear.
The Highways Agency has fairly detailed tragffic info which I think is real time. www.highways.gov.uk/traffic-information/
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Google Maps set to the traffic option is a very good guide. It's pretty accurate on lengths of tailbacks.
A few looks today suggest no real problemson the routes to Dover.
As an aside, I often take a quick look before setting out on a journey to see if the queues are any different to normal.
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>> Google Maps set to the traffic option is a very good guide.
Google Maps navigation seems now to have surpassed my Garmin with RDS-TMC traffic.
Presumably it depends on receiving timely location information via good mobile network coverage from a sufficient density of users. Going in to Mayfair from the M4 on Friday and trying to dodge congestion, it was very impressive. The 'red' strip started on several occasions at the exact point that we joined the queue, and changed colour as we started to move again. It gave me a very handy late divert away from Brompton Road via Hyde Park. I entered the destination while at Chieveley Services and downloaded the route on wifi, removing the need to download maps on the move too.
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>> I'd be grateful if anyone could offer advice. Travelling from the North to Dover, should
>> we go M2, A2 or M20, A20 ?
>>
Traffic England do a very pretty map showing the traffic congestion, or otherwise. Zoom in of course, for detail.
www.trafficengland.com/
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" Travelling from the North to Dover, should
>> we go M2, A2 or M20, A20 ? "
Sssh ! Don't tell anyone, but everytime I have looked and every news report has said that the queues coming in to Dover on A2 were shorter.
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M20 is three lanes most of the way but A2 has shorter queues-nowhere to park the trucks.I tend to use A2/M2 to Bluebell Hill,then change to M20.
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Thanks for your comments.
Friday morning Wakefield to Dover. Wish me luck.
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I read that the Air Traffic types have gone on strike.
What is it with these contrary French?
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They're still fighting the class war.
Next question...
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Dover Delays - again - Ian (Cape Town)
