Last lorry drivers to cross Channel to France after new coronavirus variant caused border chaos

Thousands of hauliers spent Christmas alone due to border closures and vehicle backlogs

Polish lorry drivers, with a makeshift Christmas tree fashioned out of empty Heineken cans, share Christmas Day food and drinks at a truck stop near Folkestone, Kent (PA)

After more than a week of disruption, the final lorry drivers who became stuck in their vehicles in Kent over Christmas are set to cross the Channel and return home to France and beyond. 

The backlog of lorries - of which there were 1,500 lined up along the M20 at one point last week - was caused by France temporarily closing its borders on 20 December in response to the discovery of a fast-spreading coronavirus variant in the UK. 

But the Department for Transport (DfT) said on Monday that the systems put in place to return traffic flow to normal were keeping pace with demand.

It comes after the PA news agency reported that some 3,000 hauliers were waiting to enter the Eurotunnel or gain access to the Port of Dover on Christmas Day evening. Despite restrictions being eased on 23 December and borders reopening, the large accumulation of lorries meant thousands have remained stuck in Dover and Folkestone for over a week. 

Under new legislation, drivers seeking to enter France from Britain must now show proof of a negative Covid test taken in the last 72 hours. As of Monday, a total of 21,849 coronavirus tests on hauliers had been carried out with 66 positive results - which amounts to just 0.3 per cent of those tested so far. 

Some of the stranded drivers were held at Manston Airport during Christmas week where they waited to receive tests before heading to Dover to board ferries. 

DfT said there were now only 59 heavy goods vehicles left across Manston and the M20 waiting to cross to France, and added that as of Monday a total of 14,659 HGVs had departed via Dover and the Eurotunnel since both were reopened.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps tweeted on Sunday that the M20 motorway had been reopened, but warned those travelling to Kent to follow updates from Kent County Council and Highways England.

“Current delay for Eurotunnel & Ferry is 30mins for test result,” he added.

Volunteers from local communities - including the Salvation Army, Muslim group Al-Khair Foundation, HM Coastguard and Kent County Council - delivered thousands of warm meals and water to the drivers stuck in their vehicles in the days leading up to Christmas. 

Tesco also provided 600 food parcels, 24 pallets of staples and thousands of sausage rolls, which were sent out on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Images of lorry drivers coming together to celebrate Christmas did the rounds on social media, with one particularly memorable image (as seen above) showing a group of men who had made a Christmas tree out of beer cans.