Britons heading off on holiday by ferry faced hours-long waits at the port of Dover on Friday, with authorities blaming French officials for the chaos.
Dover authorities said a lack of French border officials was leading to waits of up to six hours for border checks at the English Channel port, with queues of tourist and freight traffic snarling roads for kilometres around.Port authorities said in a statement that the number of French border police "has been insufficient and has fallen far short of what is required to ensure a smooth first weekend of the peak summer getaway period.
He urged travellers to "consider holding off heading for the port at this point in time until more is known." Millions of people in Britain trying to start vacations this weekend -- the start of the summer holidays for most schools -- face the threat of disruption by road, sea, rail and air. The problems follow days of travel disruption on Britain's railways after a heat wave brought record-smashing 40 degree Celsius temperatures to the U.K., buckling rails and starting lineside fires.