Travellers using Dover’s ferry port faced queues of up to 14 hours on Saturday as French border officials based at the Kent gateway stepped up security measures.

P&O Ferries’ chief executive Helen Deeble accused the French authorities of failing to provide enough staff to carry out the increased checks, which caused the delays for passengers.

“The scenes which we saw at the weekend at the Port of Dover, with holidaymakers delayed for completely unacceptable lengths of time, must never be allowed to happen again,” said Deeble.

“Increased security checks at the border are completely understandable but the French authorities must provide adequate numbers of staff to ensure that these checks can be processed quickly and efficiently. The failure to do so at the weekend was the primary cause of the delays.”

The queues began easing on Sunday and traffic flows into the port have now returned to normal levels.

The Port of Dover said in a statement that it “shares public frustration at the French border control situation”. But the port added that the problem could only be resolved by the UK and French governments.

“We raised concerns over French manning levels with the UK government days before the situation developed, and the government, in turn, raised the issue with its French counterparts,” said the port.

“We are determined to continue working with the UK authorities to find a way of ensuring that French border control posts are suitably staffed in future.

“Ultimately, international border policy can only be resolved by governments, but we will do all we can alongside government, partner organisations and ferry operators to develop a long-term solution that will ensure trade and tourist traffic remains fluid through this crucial European gateway.”