Only 1,600 to go..! Kent lorry chaos begins to ease with less than 2,000 drivers waiting to cross The Channel - after British and Polish army and French firefighters find just 36 Covid cases in testing drive
Around 1,600 truckers remain stuck in the lines of lorries which line the M20 in Kent despite mass testing
Another 800 military personnel were sent to Kent as part of Operation Rose to help test the truckers
Thousands of drivers spent Christmas Day in their lorry cabs as they waited to cross Channel to France
Villagers from Mersham, near Ashford, lowered food from bridges to feed the stranded truckers
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Salvation Army volunteers fed some of the 1,500 truck drivers stranded in Kent after France closed its border with Britain
Salvation Army volunteers fed some of the 1,500 truck drivers stranded in Kent after France closed its border with Britain
Adam PayneDec 23, 2020, 15:24 IST
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Volunteers from the Salvation Army stepped in to feed truck drivers stranded in Kent in Monday night.
The charity organisation intervened amid warnings that there were insufficient food supplies.
An industry email to Boris Johnson s government seen by Business Insider criticised the critical failure to provide welfare to the HGV drivers stuck in England after France closed the freight border.
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Patricia Hager, 60, delivered homemade caramel rolls for breakfast to family and friends in Bismarck, North Dakota, a state that didn t get hit until later in the pandemic but was struck hard.
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It seemed every time she opened her door this holiday season, someone had left smoked salmon, baskets of nuts or cookies. This year Christmas love is expressed at the door, she said. I m glad that people will probably be with us next year with the vaccines. I can give up anything for that.
BBC News
Published
image captionAbout 4,000 lorries have been parked at Manston Airport overnight
It could take days to clear the backlog of lorries waiting to cross to France, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says.
Drivers have been warned they may have to spend Christmas in their cabs.
About 4,000 lorries are parked at Manston Airport in Kent, with another 2,300 being held on the M20 after the French closed their border with the UK.
Crossings will continue over Christmas but all drivers are required to test negative for Covid-19 before being allowed into France.
Tests are being administered by members of the military and French firefighters.