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The Port of Dover says it's been a busy day but that traffic is flowing well

14:00, 30 July 2016

Fears of a second weekend of traffic chaos in Dover today (Saturday) failed to materialise.

Drivers heading to France had been warned to expect more traffic gridlock around the port on so-called 'Black Saturday', and to delay journeys until tomorrow (Sunday) if possible.

However, the Port of Dover has been reporting throughout the day that while it's been very busy - with hundreds of holidaymakers catching ferries to the continent - traffic in the area is currently flowing freely.

No queues at all on the dual carriageway heading towards the Port of Dover when this picture was taken on Saturday morning
No queues at all on the dual carriageway heading towards the Port of Dover when this picture was taken on Saturday morning

An update on the Port of Dover website at 3pm said: "All routes into the Port of Dover are currently flowing. The Port is busy but operating normally."

And as these pictures taken by KM photographer Matt Bristow of the main dual carriageway leading to the Port show, there is more traffic heading away from the docks than there is heading towards it.

More traffic can be seen leaving the port area, left, than heading towards the ferries, right.
More traffic can be seen leaving the port area, left, than heading towards the ferries, right.

That's a major improvement on this time last week when long stretches of the A2 and A20 were gridlocked with thousands of cars and lorries going nowhere with their occupants sweltering inside them as temperatures soared.

Last weekend drivers heading to the Port of Dover suffered delays of up to 12 hours, with an estimated 250,000 caught up in the mayhem.

Traffic chaos in Townwall Street, Dover on Saturday, July 23
Traffic chaos in Townwall Street, Dover on Saturday, July 23

Today (Saturday) marks the end of the July holiday for many French families and the start of the August one for others, which normally brings extremely high levels of traffic, which were expected to add to tailbacks on this side of the Channel too.

But it was a concern that thankfully hasn't been realised.

Last week French border control security checks, increased following the recent terror attack in Nice, were being blamed for the delays as thousands of families headed towards Dover at the start of the school summer holidays.

Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke was among those highly critical of Highways England, the Port of Dover and the relevant government departments for the crisis.

Traffic had returned to normal during this week and warnings of long delays haven't materialised today (Saturday), to the relief of thousands heading to catch ferries from Dover.

So it looks like the 30,000 bottles of water set aside for a second crisis can go back into storage and scenes of families having to sleep in their cars are extremely unlikely to be repeated this weekend.

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