Covid-19 lockdown has helped stop lorry chaos at Dover after Brexit
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Updated: 20:40, 04 February 2021
The coronavirus lockdown has so far helped stop the feared roads havoc after Brexit - but a police chief has warned it might still happen.
Traffic gridlock was predicted on routes towards the Port of Dover and Channel Tunnel after the UK left the EU.
A snaking queue of trucks outside Dover. December 19. Picture: Sam Lennon
But routes to the Channel Ports have not so far clogged up despite fears that they could after the end of the transition period.
However, both police and hauliers say it could eventually happen once traffic levels return to normal.
Ashford Borough Council to recruit 130 workers at Brexit lorry park in Sevington
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Updated: 11:23, 27 January 2021
More than 100 people are to be recruited to work at a huge Brexit lorry park ahead of its full opening.
The enormous park in Sevington, Ashford, will provide customs and transit checks for lorries leaving and arriving from Europe.
A new health checks centre is to open at the lorry park in Sevington. Photo: ABC
The government - which only snapped up the 66-acre plot in July - had hoped it could hold up to 1,700 trucks on the site and use the land for customs checks from January 1.
Date Time
Funding for new checks on animal products creates 500 jobs
£14 million in funding has been given to local authorities across England to help them maintain the UK’s high standards on imported animal products, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has today (26 January 2021) confirmed.
Over 500 new port health roles are being created to facilitate the new checks on imports of animal products from the EU from April 2021, with £8.8 million invested in Ashford Borough Council and Dover District Council.
A further £5.2 million is being spent on recruiting staff, equipment and new systems in 19 other local authorities around England, including East Suffolk District Council, Manchester City Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, Portsmouth City Council and the City of London.
UK Money Made Available to Check EU Animal Product Imports
Kent Gets Lion s Share of Funding
UK – EUROPE – Rightly or wrongly it is fair to say there has always existed a degree of distrust between the farming communities on either side of the channel. Each can point out perceived weaknesses, with the French particularly coming under scrutiny with accusations of tardiness in adopting agreed standards and the UK seen as favouring chemicals such as neonicotinoids, frowned upon elsewhere.
Post Brexit the UK has now taken action, doubtless to be mirrored across the water, to ensure checks are made on imported animal products from the EU. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has affirmed that £14 million in funding has been given to local authorities across England to help them maintain the UK’s standards on such imports. Farming, Fisheries and Food Minister Victoria Prentis said:
A new temporary mortuary has been set up in Aylesford, Kent. Stuart Thomas A large temporary mortuary has been set up in north Kent to store bodies as the Covid-19 death toll rises. Kent County Council say the need to activate the temporary morgue is a stark reminder to everyone to follow the lockdown guidance as The Aylesford Temporary Place of Rest, a giant marquee located just north of Maidstone in Kent, opened on New Year s Day to ease pressure on hospital mortuaries which are currently reaching full capacity. In the last two weeks of 2020, more people have died in the south east of England than anywhere else in England and Wales, and health providers warn they are likely to face even greater pressures in the coming weeks.