Another 800 military personnel are sent to help test 4,000 drivers stuck in Kent on Christmas Day

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Thousands of lorry drivers were spending Christmas Day in their cabs in Kent today as the military was sent in as part of Operation Rose to help clear the backlog of stranded drivers and return hauliers to their home countries.

Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed as part of the repatriation operation after French Covid-19 restrictions temporarily banning UK freight caused severe disruption at the Port of Dover in the run up to Christmas Day.

The French are demanding a negative Covid test from lorry drivers before they are allowed to cross the border – after introducing a travel ban on Sunday following the discovery of a fast-spreading mutant strain in the UK.

Around 1,100 British military personnel have been sent to Kent as part of Operation Rose to help perform Covid tests, marshal traffic, distribute food and organise welfare facilities to 5,000 waiting lorry drivers.    

Traffic was moving smoothly through the port on Friday morning, with 30 French firefighters also sent in to help the military test drivers for coronavirus. The Polish defence minister said their country would also send 60 territorial army soldiers.

Photographs from the M60 show piles of food delivered by the public to stranded truckers, while others plan to bring fish and chips to more than 300 of the drivers later on Christmas Day. 

James Heappey MP, Minister for the Armed Forces, called it a ‘fantastic international effort’ in a tweet on Christmas Eve. 

More than 700 hauliers have been cleared for departure since France reopened its border on Wednesday – and a chorus of beeping horns sounded at Dover on Christmas Eve as those at the front of the queue celebrated finally being able to leave.

However, some 5,000 remain unable to get home yet, despite some progress made in testing drivers holed up in their vehicles at nearby Manston Airport, a disused airbase that has been turned into a temporary truck park, on a closed section of the M20, and in the town of Dover itself. 

Some have already spent nearly a week stranded due to the diplomatic impasse.

Southeastern Railway and Network Rail arranged for food to be delivered to lorry drivers stuck in Operation Brock on the M20. Seven trains carrying crates of food for the hauliers have left London in the past 48 hours, with the Salvation Army distributing the items. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘We need to get the situation in Kent, caused by the French Government’s sudden imposition of Covid restrictions, resolved as soon as possible.

‘I have today sent special instructions to the Army to take control of testing and HGV management operations in the county. Our aim is to get foreign hauliers home with their families as quickly as we can.

‘I know it’s been hard for many drivers cooped up in their cabs at this precious time of year, but I assure them that we are doing our utmost to get them home.’

The Department for Transport (DfT) said all but three of the 2,367 coronavirus tests issued to hauliers have been negative – a stipulation of travel introduced by French authorities.    

The Government said catering vans would provide complementary hot food and drinks to stranded hauliers at Manston, with Kent Council and volunteer groups providing refreshments to those stuck on the M20.

There are more than 250 toilets at Manston, with a further 32 portable toilets added to existing facilities already along the M20.

A Port of Dover spokesman said ferry services had run throughout Christmas Eve night and would continue on Christmas Day to help ease congestion.

Traffic was moving more quickly at the Eurotunnel, with around 2,000 lorries expected to depart on Thursday.

Duncan Buchanan, a policy director at the Road Haulage Association, said: ‘The most reassuring thing is that food is getting through at Manston, and I have to say a big thank you to everyone who volunteered to help drivers stick it out in cold conditions in the days leading up to Christmas.’   

British testers yesterday found just three Covid cases among more then 2,300 drivers swabbed on Christmas Eve. 

It has been a fraught week in the southern county – home to Britain’s key Dover port – after an estimated 10,000 truckers were caught up in the chaos. 

It comes after French president Emmanuel Macron ordered the border with the UK to shut on Saturday following the detection of a new virulent strain of coronavirus in Britain.

Thousands of hauliers were parked up at the disused Marston airport, while hundreds more lined the M20 as part of Operation Stack. All were waiting for a negative test result before they can make their way to the continent. 

Kent villagers yesterday helped feed stranded truck drivers lined up along the motorway by lowering bags of food to them from bridges. 

People from Mersham, near Ashford, used rope and shopping bags to deliver goods including beans, fruit and sweets to stranded lorry drivers waiting for Covid tests.   

Kind-hearted volunteers from the Kent village of Faversham also delivered essential items to the truckers still stranded at Marston airport.

Water bottles, toilet roll and snacks were among the essntial supplies passed to the waiting drivers through the airports perimeter fence. 

Mersham residents Jan and David James also walked down the carriageway between ranks of parked up trucks to hand out food on Christmas Eve. The pair climbed over a barrier walked down a set of steps on the embankment to reach the road.

Jackie and Peter Bates have also stepped in to spread Christmas cheer among the drivers.

Mrs James, 69, a former teacher told Kent Online: ‘We went round knocking on doors in Mersham asking if people had any spare food and they have been brilliant. They gave us lots of food in bags and we then took it to the bridges.

‘We have had tins of beans, orange juice, fruit, biscuits, crisps and corn beef – anything the lorry drivers could eat with their fingers but I think most of them have cutlery anyway.

‘A lot of the drivers were asking us how far away Tesco was and many of them were walking to the supermarket.

‘We ran out of food in the end but we could have gone on and on – it was just something we felt we had to do for the poor blokes.

‘When we went back up the steps onto the bridge, a whole group of them clapped us – it was quite emotional.’

Mrs James has lived in Mersham for 35 years and says residents regularly see drivers using the village as a rat-run to avoid queues on the A20.

The grandmother of five said: ‘There was a language barrier – all most of them could say was ‘very, very thank you’ but some of the French and Spanish I could pick up.

‘Many of them just smiled and put their hands together to say thank you – it was wonderful.’

Mrs James praised the community saying it was a ‘typical English village with a fantastic community spirit’. 

The villagers’ actions have been part of a wider effort to feed the desperate drivers this week. 

On the M20, Kent County Council (KCC), with the help of Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) partners and organisations including the Salvation Army, aid agency Khalsa Aid and South East Water, provided drivers with hot food, sandwich meal bags and drinking water. 

A number of food donations from South East catering companies are also being transported by Network Rail to Ashford train station and distributed by KRF partner the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Several supermarkets and businesses, including Greggs, Lidl and the Imperial Hotel at Hythe have also made donations.

As part of KCC efforts to make sure people in the traffic management system Operation Brock are being cared for, a further 32 portable toilets have also been installed between junctions 10a and 11, adding to the portaloos provided on Monday at 1km intervals along this stretch of motorway. Toilets are being cleaned at 12-hour intervals.

While traffic queues will ease as drivers meet France’s COVID-19 testing requirements and are cleared for onward travel via either the Port of Dover or Channel tunnel, it remains important people avoid travelling to Kent while the disruption continues.

KCC Leader Roger Gough said: ‘The kindness and humanity shown by people who have rallied to provide welfare for those caught up in delays at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel is amazing.

‘I would like to thank all those who are coming forward to help, including charities, businesses, voluntary groups and, of course, our own driver welfare teams.

‘The situation should now improve steadily as drivers secure negative COVID-19 test results and are able to continue their journeys into France by ferry or freight train. I have, however, deep sympathy for those for whom this will come too late to spend Christmas with their families.

‘I would also like to thank Kent communities for their support and understanding during what has been an extremely challenging time and hope the knowledge that the disruption will continue to ease is some welcome good news.’ 

It came after authorities faced criticism for the treatment of the stranded drivers and the conditons at Marston airfield.

Industry bosses branded the treatment of the stranded truckers ‘a disgrace’ earlier this week.

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association said: ‘They’re going to give drivers two litres of water every day. 

‘We need to ensure that drivers have got sufficient food and water. 

‘Kent County Council were giving cereal bars yesterday morning which was not enough.

He added: ‘Bearing in mind the government has been trying to prepare for transition which is in eight days time, you would’ve expected these plans to be well rehearsed.

‘It’s an absolute disgrace that they’re not well prepared at all. It’s a scenario that could’ve happened in the case of no-deal.’