Lorry drivers will regularly face four-hour delays in Dover in the UK’s post-Brexit world, a haulage industry boss has said.

But Rod McKenzie, executive director for policy and public affairs for the Road Haulage Association (RHA), says the overall picture is positive as we are not seeing 'total chaos' at the busy port.

Miles-long queues of HGVs waiting to get into the crucial trade port have been a regular sight in the first weeks of 2022.

New checks that came into force at the beginning of the year have caused friction in Dover as well as across the English Channel in Calais.

On busy days this has meant long queues of lorries - visible from satellites - lining up along the A20 due to the Dover Traffic Assessment Project (TAP) being implemented.

Dover TAP, designed to stop the port town being clogged up with traffic, has already been put in place 20 times so far this year, compared to 69 times for the whole of 2021.

And Mr McKenzie said post-Brexit border checks “mean friction where none existed”.

“Any change is uncomfortable,” he told PA, adding: “That’s part of leaving the European Union and having to do new border customs checks.”

Mr McKenzie said that delays of three or four hours on busy days are to be expected going forward.

Asked if the overall picture of freight moving through Dover was positive, he said: “Yes, I think it is.

“A negative picture would be if the borders were not working and there was total chaos.

“What we have got is friction because there’s a check, but it’s not disastrous,” he added.

Councillors in Dover have also called for more to be done to address the regular long queues in the town.

At a Dover District Council full council meeting last month, Cllr Nigel Collor asked what the authority could do to prevent further congestion.

He said: “On December 17 and 18 Dover was again heavily congested when the port and ferry authorities couldn’t process freight in the volume it was arriving.

“The A2 was heavily congested for many hours making any journey difficult for our residents to the east of the road to gain access to retail facilities in the town.

“Dover TAP was also in use on the A20 continuously for nearly 33 hours between December 17 and 18.

“Although this council isn’t a highways authority we have a duty to our residents.”

In response Council leader Trevor Bartlett confirmed he would meet with Dover MP Natalie Elphicke to discuss TAP and sympathised with residents affected: “It’s causing real problems for people, especially in Aycliffe, it shouldn’t and we do need to address this more.”

Last month the chief of Dover port Doug Bannister warned that the UK has just months to avoid huge disruption to holidaymakers when new EU rules come into force in September - despite knowing about the problem for two years.

As it stands, travellers would have to exit their vehicles to undergo biometric checks at the border - something that could cause massive delays in the Kent port.

The Government said at the time that it continues to engage with EU partners to ensure border arrangements work.