Freight News, Sea


It could be a long, hot summer warns Dover chief

[ July 3, 2026   //   ]

Chief executive of the Port of Dover, Doug Bannister has written to the UK Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee warning critical incident could occur as the summer holiday gets underway.

He called on the Government to negotiate with the EU to defer full implementation of the new Entry/Exit System (EES) border controls on the English side of the Channel.

Bannister warned that a similar Critical Incident to the one declared during the May Half Term holiday after only a few hours of EES processing – with much greater traffic volumes anticipated during the peak of summertime.  The port’s modelling is showing that traffic heading for France could be facing queues that spill out of the port and onto the public highway for miles, with severe knock-on effects in Dover and Folkestone.

He also warns of the potential for trucks carrying medicines, automotive components, fresh food- being held on the M20 motorway whilst the authorities attempt to clear the disruption through the Port facilities: a process that “very recent and bitter experience” shows “can take days”.

The Port’s £40 million system has encountered difficulties as France and the UK begin to implement EES at Dover. The Chief Executive warns that there is still no workable solution agreed “and time is rapidly running out.”

Chair of the Committee, Liam Byrne MP, said: “The Port of Dover has sounded the alarm. Without an agreement with France to pause the new EU border tech this summer, Britain risks border chaos again. Ministers must urgently secure that agreement now. Once queues stretch for miles through Kent, it will be too late.”

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