UK tourists are to be banned from travelling to France after a surge in Omicron cases.

It is understood the border will be closed to all but French nationals from Saturday.

Meanwhile, there are queues of HGVs tonight as Dover Tap has been implemented - resulting in one lane being closed on the A20 coastbound from Roundhill Tunnel to Dover.

The left-hand lane is for lorries heading to the Port of Dover.

And queues are also building in the right-hand lane - which is for all other traffic - as motorists queue to leave the country ahead of the border being shut.

The Dover Traffic Access Protocol is regularly brought in when there is a risk of congestion in the town centre.

When traffic reaches high volumes vehicles are held at temporary traffic lights until space becomes available.

Elsewhere, there is also a waiting time of up to one hour and 30 minutes on the Eurotunnel in Folkestone due to high demand.

Dover and Deal MP Natalie Elphicke tweeted: "Not again! It's absolutely vital that the French act more responsibly this year so we don't see a repeat of the Christmas chaos caused by their unilateral border closures."

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed hauliers will be exempt from the ban.

Ferry passengers were being warned that services will be busy tomorrow.

A spokesman for DFDS said: "Passengers are able to transit through France to other countries without having to quarantine as long as the transit is less than 24 hours.

"We are continuing to run our ferry services as usual, with up to 55 sailings per day running between Dover, Calais, and Dunkirk.

"We expect our services to be busy on Friday as people prepare to get away for Christmas to see family and friends before the restrictions come into effect.

"We have plenty of capacity for those who wish to travel with us."

DFDS passengers were advised to check for the latest information and advice on the French government website.

The spokesman added: "We hope that these short-term measures in response to the spread of the Omicron variant will be lifted in the New Year."

A spokesman for Eurotunnel said: “We note the announcement by the French government of forthcoming travel restrictions linked to Covid 19. We are waiting to see the content of the Décret that brings these measures into force.

"In the meantime, Eurotunnel’s Le Shuttle services remain open to anyone who is able to travel and we will continue to provide the vital link for travel and trade across the Channel in the build up to the Christmas holidays.

The move to ban UK tourists follows yesterday's record number of confirmed cases of the new Covid variant in the UK.

Speaking to KentOnline in Ramsgate today, the Prime Minister said that “everybody is entitled to take sensible measures to protect against Omicron”, but that France had higher hospitalisation rates than in England.

“We're in close contact with our French colleagues,” he added.

“Actually, if you look at what's happening in France, they've got a very considerable spike of delta plus probably some Omicron, which they may not have spotted.

“Sadly, there are also quite a lot of people going into the ICU as well in France, more sadly than in this country at the moment.

DFDS has said it will do all it can to get people to where they need to be

“However, every country is entitled to take the measures that it wants to take. Having said that, it is very important that the haulage industry continues to be flowing freely and we'll make sure that the supplies continue to cross the channel.”

Official figures published after UK Health Security Agency chief executive Dr Jenny Harries warned the strain is “probably the most significant threat” since the start of the pandemic showed there had been 78,610 new cases recorded as of 9am on Wednesday.

Addressing a Downing Street briefing yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged every adult in the country to get "get boosted now".

In the run-up to last Christmas, all freight and passenger traffic was banned from entering France from the UK amid fears the transmission of coronavirus was "out of control".

It resulted in huge queues of stranded lorries on the M20, leaving many drivers unable to get home in time for Christmas.

More as we get it.