The chief executive of P&O Ferries has blamed the weekend’s traffic chaos primarily on the French authorities.

Helen Deeble said they were at fault for not providing enough staff for security checks at their border controls.

She said: “The scenes which we saw at the weekend at the port of Dover, with holidaymakers delayed for completely unacceptable lengths of time, must never be allowed to happen again.

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“Increased security checks at the border are completely understandable but the French authorities must provide adequate numbers of staff to ensure that these checks can be processed quickly and efficiently.

"The failure to do so at the weekend was the primary cause of the delays.”

She said that the ferry company had done everything it could to keep passengers moving on the English Channel, including providing extra sailings and staff.

"I am very ashamed of this situation" - Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president of the Cote d'Opale Chamber of Commerce

Ms Deeble added: “We would nevertheless like to apologise to the passengers whose holidays were affected and assure them that we will be talking to the British and French authorities this week to ensure that there is no repetition of this disruption.

“The port at Dover is a vital link connecting our island to mainland Europe and the governments on both sides of the Channel must act now to protect the millions of people who rely on it.”

From Friday night, motorists coming into the port suffered delays as long as 12 hours and the number of drivers stuck reached 250,000.

France had stepped up its border controls security after a terror attack in Nice killed 84 people on July 14.

But the Port of Dover revealed that overnight on Friday and Saturday, only three of seven French border control booths were working during the long delays of traffic going into the Port of Dover.

And at one stage only one French officer was available to check passengers on hundreds of coaches, resulting in each coach taking 40 minutes to process.

Meanwhile, the head of the port of Calais said he is "ashamed" about the huge delays which faced thousands of British holidaymakers on roads leading to the Port of Dover.

Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president of the Cote d'Opale Chamber of Commerce, which runs the port of Calais, told BBC Radio 4's Today show: "I am very ashamed of this situation.

"I am so sorry for the British passengers starting their holiday with so long to wait because of control."

He said he intended to take the matter up with the French government over the apparent failure to prepare for increased border checks.

Mr Puissesseau said: "When we know that there will be big traffic, as it was yesterday because it was starting holidays, it should be organised.

"And if the French police is obliged now to control because of all the terrorism we are facing, I can understand it but what I cannot understand is that they don't put enough policeman to controls. I will call the Home Office and tell them it is unacceptable."

Asked whether the delays could be revenge for the Brexit vote, he said "I hope not".

Highways England this morning said that traffic flows on the A2 and A20 into Dover were back to normal, with congestion confined to the port.

But Kent police and crime commissioner Matthew Scott laid the blame fairly and squarely with Highways England.

Matthew Scott says the authority must explain why it failed to have a contingency plan to deal with the long delays faced by motorists trying to reach the Port of Dover.

He said he wanted an urgent meeting with the agency to ensure it was properly prepared if there was a repetition of events at the weekend that left thousands of holidaymakers stranded for hours. He acknowledged that there was an understaffing issue with French border checks that had played a part.

“Highways England needs to explain why it is that they did not have a contingency plan for an event of this magnitude. A lot of the fault lies with them,” he said.

He said Kent Police had done what it could to offer support in terms of traffic management but he did not understand how the agency had failed to anticipate the possibility of delays, he added.

“This was the biggest weekend for travellers heading to the continent it needs to answer why it did not have any plan in place. I am very sorry for drivers caught up in this but it is for Highways England to explain.”