A Kent football team made 200 pizzas and delivered them to stranded lorry drivers on the M20 and Manston airport on Tuesday night.
Hot meals were also provided by a Sikh charity and delivered by Gravesend's Gurdwara Sikh community as thousands of lorry drivers waited for information after France closed its border with the UK for fear of a new variant of Covid-19
Continue reading...Frustrated drivers scuffled with police at the entrance to the port of Dover on Wednesday morning, amid anger at the continued partial closure of the French border. Paris and London agreed late on Tuesday that drivers who tested negative for Covid could board ferries for Calais from Wednesday, but there was anger among hauliers stuck in huge queues in Kent at the speed of the rollout of testing facilities
Continue reading...The decision by France to close its borders to incoming freight traffic from the UK has caused chaos in Dover – the gateway to Europe – and roads leading to the port
Continue reading...Heavy rain has hampered work on site intended to relieve queues around Dover from 1 January
The Kent lorry park designed to relieve queues of up to 7,000 trucks taking goods across the Channel will not be ready for Brexit on 1 January, it has emerged.
Damian Green, the MP for Ashford, said the government told him rain had hampered work on the site between the villages of Sevington and Mersham, fuelling fears of traffic queues around the county for the first two months of the year.
Continue reading...Campaigners warn that roads and laybys are already littered with urine and excrement
Kent could become the “toilet of England” in less than eight weeks unless dedicated loos are provided for thousands of lorry drivers who could be held up in the county for hours by post-Brexit border checks, campaigners have warned.
They say Kent’s main roads and laybys are already littered with bottles of urine and bags of excrement and the problem could become much worse after 31 December.
Continue reading...French authorities believe the man may have been trying to get to the Kent coast
The body of a suspected asylum seeker who may have been attempting to reach the Kent coast has been discovered on a beach just outside Calais, according to French authorities.
A dead man, aged between 20 and 40, was reportedly wearing an orange life jacket when he was found on the shores of Sangatte, in northern France, on Sunday morning.
Continue reading...Head of EU exit at the port says money needs to be ‘issued rather than talked about’
Dover port is not Brexit ready because it is still waiting for government funds to be released for vital infrastructure for the new border operations, it has been revealed.
It comes as it emerged that the government was considering forcing drivers to obtain a special Brexit passport before entering Kent in a bid to avert queuing chaos in January.
Continue reading...Refugee groups urge ministers to ensure safety of 400 people housed in barracks
The people of Folkestone have become used to the sound of helicopters buzzing over their heads at night, as authorities scour the waters off the south coast for asylum seekers crossing the Channel on small boats.
September has become the busiest month on record for migrant Channel crossings, while more than 6,500 have made the journey this year – more than three times the total in 2019. The sight of new arrivals, some in flimsy dinghies and using spades as oars, has become an almost daily occurrence.
Continue reading...Around 400 people to be housed in Kent as UK deals with record levels of arrivals crossing Channel
Migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats are to be housed in former military barracks while their asylum claims are processed, it has emerged.
Around 400 people including families are to be housed in temporary accommodation at Napier Barracks near Folkestone, Kent, from 21 September, MP Damian Collins said.
Continue reading...Coastguard confirms swimmer is well and he will be checked over by ambulance staff
A nearly eight-hour search for a person trying to swim from Dover to Calais unaccompanied has ended after he was spotted by a passing vessel.
Emergency services launched a major operation to try to locate the male swimmer, who was eventually found just 500 metres off Dover.
Continue reading...UK pursues ‘militarised’ response despite calls for safe routes for asylum seekers
The number of migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats this year has passed 5,000, analysis shows, as the UK government continues to pursue a “militarised” response to the growing numbers.
A further five people arrived in England on Friday, risking their lives in force 8 gales, rain showers and rough seas. It is understood the five men presented themselves as Sudanese and Chadian nationals, and were brought into Dover to be questioned by immigration officials.
Continue reading...The mercury is set to hit 35C in Kent and Sussex on Sunday before thunderstorms arrive early in the week
Many Britons are set to bask in another hot day, with temperatures well above 30C.
The mercury looks set to reach as high as 35C on Sunday – with Kent, Sussex and parts of London being the most likely to see the warmest temperatures, according to Met Office forecaster Craig Snell.
Continue reading...Crowds far exceed lifeguards’ capacity as coastguard records busiest day for four years
Holidaymakers in Kent have been asked to avoid four of the county’s beaches after fears some have become “unmanageable” due to the number of visitors.
The coastguard had its busiest day in more than four years on Friday – when the UK recorded its third hottest day on record – dealing with 329 incidents. Local authorities have expressed concern that there are not enough lifeguards as crowds swell.
Continue reading...New border checks in Kent and elsewhere reverse 47 years of removal of trade barriers
The UK government is to build “10 to 12” new Brexit border customs and controls sites across the country in a move that Michael Gove has said cements the mission to “take back control” from the EU.
In the biggest shake-up to trading with the EU for 50 years, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced the £470m programme for facilities to process freight going to and from the EU, along with a 206-page document detailing new border controls.
Continue reading...Andy Cowell runs the Fenn Bell Conservation Project in Medway, Kent. After 12 weeks of closure, as running costs mounted, zoos were suddenly told with less than a week’s notice that they could reopen on Monday to reduced visitors. But smaller zoos such as Fenn Bell have had to spend funds they barely had just to create space for visitors to visit safely, and Cowell is still a couple of weeks away from being ready. He tells Richard Sprenger why he is so angry at how the situation has been handled and fears the possibility of having to euthanise his animals
Continue reading...Officers investigate possible altercation between Charlie Hilder and two teenagers
Police have issued a fresh appeal for witnesses after a “dreadful incident” in which a man died in the grounds of a Kent castle.
Charlie Hilder, 66, from Essex, died at Lullingstone castle on Thursday afternoon, after emergency services were called to the scene.
Continue reading...A family from Kent who shared a video of their living room performance of a lockdown-themed adaptation of a Les Misérables song have become a sensation online. Ben and Danielle Marsh and their four children changed the lyrics of One Day More to reflect common complaints during the Covid-19 lockdown. They say the video, which has gone viral, was intended to give friends and family a laugh during this stressful time
Continue reading...Warning after crimes including theft of oxygen canisters and puncturing of ambulance tyres
Police chiefs have warned the coronavirus pandemic could “bring out the worst in humanity” after a spate of opportunistic crimes hindered efforts to control the crisis.
The theft of oxygen canisters from a hospital, the puncturing of ambulance tyres and the raiding of food banks by thieves were among the “worrying isolated incidents” in recent days raised by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
Continue reading...Kent youth asylum seeker charity has seen a 50% rise in demand for its services since December 2018
Bridget Chapman, who swims regularly in the Channel, wasn’t surprised when desperate asylum seekers began travelling to the UK on small dinghy boats last year. On a clear day she can see France’s coastline from where she lives in Folkestone, Kent. “If you’re stuck in Calais and you can see the British coast quite clearly, it must be really tempting to think: I’ll just get a boat,” she said.
It has been a year since the then home secretary, Sajid Javid, declared the increasing number of migrants attempting to cross the Channel a “major incident”, but boat arrivals are still a regular occurrence. On Boxing Day this year, more than 60 migrants were picked up while attempting to cross in small boats.
Continue reading...Inquest into death of six-year-old Dajahnel Young, who died during beach trip to Margate
The mother of a six-year-old girl who drowned at a seaside resort has said she told the woman looking after the child she did not want her daughter to go in the water.
Dajahnel Young, from Erith in south-east London, was seen lifeless in the sea off Margate, Kent, on 28 July last year, after being reported missing during a trip with friends from her local church.
Continue reading...