Holidaymakers faced delays of up to two hours just getting to the Port of Dover on Saturday (23 May) owing to congestion in the area, the BBC reports, and a further more than two hours clearing the new EU Entry-Exit System (EES) checks, which took full effect last month.
France's Police Aux Frontieres (PAF) confirmed it invoked Article 9 of the EES regulations to suspend the new digital and biometric checks following a request from the Port of Dover, which described the backlog as a "challenging situation". Temperatures topped 30C on Saturday as the UK recorded its first heatwave of the year.
Processing times fell to less than an hour by lunchtime, the port said, and traffic was "free-flowing" by 2pm. The additional checks – fingerprinting and facial scanning – had been reinstated by 5pm, according to PAF.
Doug Bannister, Port of Dover Chief Executive, told the BBC Dover had been expecting more than 8,000 cars to transit through the port on Saturday, adding 84 EES kiosks had been installed at Dover.
However, he added that despite assurances from the UK government and French authorities about the processing speed and capacity, he had been left "frustrated" by the "slow processing" at the weekend.
Dover is one of several "juxtaposed" borders, where checks are operated by European authorities on British soil. Others include Eurostar at St Pancras International and Le Shuttle checks at Folkestone.
Separately, local councillors in Kent tabled a motion to Reform UK-led Kent County Council calling for border checks for cross-Channel travel to take place at a site separate to the Port of Dover, which was backed by 67 councillors. The council has pledged to write to the government on the issue.
