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Location of Dover customs clearance site for lorries in Whitfield remains secret

09:00, 05 August 2020

updated: 09:20, 05 August 2020

The location of the post-Brexit customs clearance site for lorries in Dover still remains a mystery.

As revealed last week, the 1,200 capacity site will be near to White Cliffs Business Park in Whitfield but so far local authorities Dover District and Kent County councils remain in the dark.

Lorry trailers will be pulled over for customs clearance checks at a special facility in Whitfield that remains secret
Lorry trailers will be pulled over for customs clearance checks at a special facility in Whitfield that remains secret

The secrecy is upheld because neither authority owns the land in question and the Department for Transport is not revealing where it could be, plus, commercially sensitive information will not be revealed by the Department for Transport.

It came as the same department announced the dreaded Operation Brock will return in December when it is anticipated longer customs checks will lead to lorries being stacked up on Kent's roads.

This week a A DfT spokesman said: “We are exploring various customs clearance sites across Kent for after the end of the transition period."

He was not able to elaborate whether the department was in talks with a land owner for converting a field in the expanding village or whether it would be using an existing site.

Priority Freight, owners of the Dover Truck Park, already in Dover's White Cliffs Business Park, has been asked if they are in discussions with the government. Their spokesman is yet to comment.

A birds eye view of White Cliffs Business Park and the fields that surround it. Picture Google Maps
A birds eye view of White Cliffs Business Park and the fields that surround it. Picture Google Maps

Meanwhile in Ashford, opposition has mounted against plans to turn the 27 acre site MOJO site near Junction 10a of the M20 into a customs clearance site for thousands of lorries.

The town's MP Damian Green called it "unfair to Ashford" as it is "too near too many homes for it to be the right place".

Where Ashford's post-Brexit lorry park will go
Where Ashford's post-Brexit lorry park will go

Work began at the site in Sevington on July 16, with fencing, a temporary site office, and an access route from the A2070 link road all due to be installed.

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