New: ‘Health protocol’ to be put in place in hours to get freight moving, says French transport minister
“A solid health protocol” will be put in place in the coming hours so flows of goods between the UK and France can resume, the French transport minister has said.
There has been chaos at Dover this morning after the French government banned all travel from the UK for 48 hours, including freight drivers, prompting fears of food and medical shortages.
But in a recent tweet French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari has suggested the problem could be eased in hours.
He said: “In the coming hours, at European level, we will be putting in place a solid health protocol so that flows from the United Kingdom can resume. Our priority: protect our nationals and fellow citizens.”
His tweet follows the French national road haulage federation claiming the Dover situation is “becoming catastrophic.”
A spokeswoman said: “[Drivers] are stuck in lorry parks with no toilets – it’s becoming a catastrophe. No driver wants to deliver to the UK now, so the UK is going to see its freight supply dry up.”
France closed the border after fears a new, more infectious strain of the Covid-19 strain found in London and the South East could spread across the continent.