UK could run out of fresh food as thousands of trucks pile up at Dover port

Name: UK stranded truckers scuffle with police as they wait to leave UK after COVID blockade
Uploaded: 2020-12-23T14:32:46.000Z
Duration: 1 min 45 s
Description: UK stranded truckers scuffle with police as they wait to leave UK after COVID blockade

Fruit and vegetables are at risk of running out until a backlog of trucks at the port of Dover is cleared

Supermarkets are facing record Christmas demand because of Covid-19 restrictions and there are fears of panic buying

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Vehicles wait at the entrance to the port of Dover in Britain. Photo: AP

Reuters

Published: 10:32pm, 23 Dec 2020Updated: 12:30am, 24 Dec 2020

British supplies of some fresh food, mainly fruit and vegetables, are at risk of running out until a backlog of trucks at the port of Dover is cleared and links with France return to normal, the UK retail industry said on Wednesday.

A partial blockade by France to try to contain a new highly infectious coronavirus variant has left thousands of trucks stranded in Dover, Britain’s main gateway to Europe, in the run-up to Christmas.

Paris and London agreed late on Tuesday that drivers carrying a negative Covid-19 test result could board ferries for Calais.

A British minister said the military would start testing drivers, but that it would take time to clear the backlog, hammering Britain’s most important trade route for food days before it leaves the European Union’s orbit.

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UK stranded truckers scuffle with police as they wait to leave UK after COVID blockade

Huge queues of trucks have been stacked on a motorway towards the Eurotunnel Channel Tunnel and Dover in the southeast county of Kent, while others have been parked on the former nearby airport at Manston.