Extra sailings were put on across the weekend to try and clear the backlog but even on Sunday some were waiting up to eight hours to pass through controls.
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Holidaymakers slam 'shambles' at Dover after 16-hour wait as they fear Easter getaway hellExtra sailings were put on across the weekend to try and clear the backlog but even on Sunday some were waiting up to eight hours to pass through controls.By GILES SHELDRICK - DAILY EXPRESS CHIEF REPORTER22:58, Sun, Apr 2, 2023 | UPDATED: 22:58, Sun, Apr 2, 20238BOOKMARKPassengers at Dover facing waits of up to five hours on Sunday0 seconds of 1 minute, 29 secondsVolume 90% Thousands of families fear Easter holiday misery following chaotic scenes at Dover on Sunday where hungry children had to wait 16 hours to board ferries. A critical incident was declared as Britain’s busiest port was brought to a standstill at the weekend.
This week huge numbers of families will attempt to set off for the Continent but fear being gridlocked too.
The queues mainly affected coaches boarding DFDS Seaways and P&O Ferries
Some coach drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles as they had reached the maximum number of hours allowed behind the wheel.
The port said ferry companies received 15 percent more coach bookings than were expected.
Processing coach passengers through border control takes significantly longer than car passengers. Many of those stuck were schoolchildren on Easter holiday trips.
Mother Gillian Charlton, 43, said her son Ned, 13, and school friends were kept in a holding pen for 16 hours after travelling from Chorley, Lancs, en route to ski-ing in Italy.
The children were only allowed to get off the coach to use a portable loo and were given one KitKat at midnight. She said: “It’s shambolic. They were all starving. I’m disgusted.
“My son said there were hundreds of coaches behind them – mainly school kids. They should have restricted the bookings.”
Passenger Rosie Pearson was stuck for 16 hours with her husband and two teenagers attempting to travel to Val d’Isere in France. Rosie, from Essex, said: “The whole thing was a shambles, not a single bit of communication
“It was carnage. The worst thing was no one told us anything for the whole 16 hours, literally nothing. It’s shocking that something this chaotic can happen