Revealed: Hauliers and lorry drivers owe £4MILLION in fines for allowing migrants on their vehicles

  • More than 3,300 fines were issued by UK Border Force staff in 2014/15
  • Fines imposed on drivers and firms can be up to £2,000 per migrant
  • Government says lorries will be queued at disused Kent regional airport
  • Mothballed Manston Airport will be used as an emergency lorry park

Haulage companies and lorry drivers have received fines of more than £4million after migrants were found in their vehicles, it was revealed today.

More than 3,300 fines - which can be up to £2,000 per migrant and are imposed on drivers and their firms - were issued by UK Border Force staff in 2014/15, a 52 per cent rise from 2,177 in 2013/14.

Lorry drivers and passengers heading to France via the Channel Tunnel or Dover port this summer have been disrupted by the Calais migrant crisis, strikes by ferry workers and protesting farmers.

Long queues: Lorries parked up on the M20 motorway in Ashford, Kent, as part of Operation Stack last Friday

Long queues: Lorries parked up on the M20 motorway in Ashford, Kent, as part of Operation Stack last Friday

Engineers preparing the site: Manston Airport will serve as an emergency lorry park, the Government has said

Engineers preparing the site: Manston Airport will serve as an emergency lorry park, the Government has said

From above: The disused airport in Kent is being turned into a huge overflow car park during Operation Stack

From above: The disused airport in Kent is being turned into a huge overflow car park during Operation Stack

The figures were revealed by BBC News as the Government said lorries will be parked at a disused regional airport when cross-Channel services go into meltdown in a bid to ease traffic backlogs.

The mothballed Manston Airport near Ramsgate in Kent will be used as an emergency lorry park as part of a temporary alternative to vehicles queuing on the M20 as part of Operation Stack.

Stack has led to sections of the motorway being turned in to an HGV park for up to 5,000 lorries whenever services at the Channel Tunnel or Dover port have been disrupted.

Nearby roads have also been grid-locked as a result of Stack, leaving many local businesses out of pocket and hauliers stuck in tailbacks having to dump their cargoes.

Options outlined by the Government last week included using spare car-parking space at Ebbsfleet International railway station in Kent, which is on the Eurostar network. 

On the tarmac: Manston Airport will serve as part of a temporary alternative to vehicles queuing on the M20

On the tarmac: Manston Airport will serve as part of a temporary alternative to vehicles queuing on the M20

Working hard: The airport closed last year with the loss of more than 140 jobs amid losses of £10,000 a day

Working hard: The airport closed last year with the loss of more than 140 jobs amid losses of £10,000 a day

But that idea appears to have been sidelined in favour of Manston, a former Royal Air Force base which closed last summer with the loss of more than 140 jobs amid losses of £10,000 a day.

In the middle of an emergency, we have to look at what is available
Shepway MP Damian Collins

Shepway MP Damian Collins told the Folkestone Herald: 'It's one of the few sites where you can park a large number of lorries. In the middle of an emergency, we have to look at what is available.

'For the people using the M20, this is good news because we can deal with the large number of lorries. It will relieve a large pressure from the people of Folkestone and Hythe.'

The Department for Transport said an agreement had been reached with the airfield's owners to enable Kent County Council, Highways England and Kent Police to use it temporarily.

Transport Minister Lord Ahmad said: ‘Working together we have found a viable short-term solution to the disruption residents and industry in the M20 corridor from Dover to Maidstone have been experiencing in recent weeks as a result of Operation Stack.

Alternative: The mothballed Manston Airport near Ramsgate in Kent will be used as an emergency lorry park

Alternative: The mothballed Manston Airport near Ramsgate in Kent will be used as an emergency lorry park

‘By using Manston Airfield we have secured an interim solution while we work to find a longer term resolution, which meets the needs of the whole of Kent and of course the interests of British industry.’

By using Manston Airfield we have secured an interim solution while we work to find a longer term resolution 
Transport Minister Lord Ahmad

In addition, ‘quick-to-market’ products will be identified as part of the filter procedure on entry to Stack.

Loads which will not enter Stack, but be routed directly to the Channel Tunnel or Port of Dover include livestock and other live loads, ‘quick-to-market’ fresh produce, including fish and meat, emergency medicines, and items critical for humanitarian need.

Kent Police deputy chief constable Paul Brandon said: ‘We are pleased to support any measures that will ease the pressure on the M20 and those communities and businesses who have been adversely affected by Operation Stack in recent weeks.

Moving forward: The Department for Transport said an agreement had been reached with the airfield's owners to enable Kent County Council, Highways England and Kent Police to use it temporarily

Moving forward: The Department for Transport said an agreement had been reached with the airfield's owners to enable Kent County Council, Highways England and Kent Police to use it temporarily

New usage: It has been confirmed that Manston Airport in Kent will serve as an emergency lorry park

New usage: It has been confirmed that Manston Airport in Kent will serve as an emergency lorry park

‘We have been in a critical situation in Kent since the middle of June and, in that time the situation in Kent has been acknowledged as a very real, national issue.

WHAT IS OPERATION STACK?

Operation Stack sees parts of the M20 used to queue lorries that are travelling towards the Continent, to avoid causing gridlock across Kent's roads.

Police say it only comes into force as an ‘emergency measure’ after discussions with other agencies and an assessment of issues such as safety and disruption.

It has recently been used five times in four weeks due to various factors such as reduced ferries travelling from Dover due to strikes in Calais, and disruptions to Eurotunnel services due to attempts by foreign migrants to illegally enter Britain.

Freight within Operation Stack is split into two queues on either side of the carriageway - one being for tunnel traffic and the other for port traffic.

Space is then left in the centre of the motorway to allow emergency vehicles to get through.

Queues are released each time a ferry or train is due to depart to ensure the most amount of freight can be moved.

And Manston Airport in Kent will now be used as an emergency lorry park as part of a temporary alternative to vehicles queuing on the M20.

‘Following work by the Department for Transport and Highways England, the option to divert freight bound for Europe to Manston Airfield, whilst very challenging, has become more feasible in terms of resourcing and logistics.’

Kent County Council leader Paul Carter said: ‘We welcome the decisive action taken by the Government on this issue in trialling the new initiative.

‘Our principal concern throughout this difficult period has been that we need to keep Kent moving for local residents and businesses.

‘It is particularly important we endeavour to keep the M20 open in both directions as far as is possible, and we will continue to impress upon our partner agencies the need to help make this new initiative a success.’

The council has estimated the county's economy has been losing around £1.5million a day. Leaders have been making urgent calls to reach a solution on Stack, which was last lifted on Saturday.

Last week it was revealed British troops would be involved in the operation to ease congestion in Kent, with the Ministry of Defence using its land around Folkestone as a temporary parking area.

Stack has recently been implemented five times in four weeks, with drivers facing delays of up to 18 hours last week before they could enter the Channel Tunnel from Kent.

Among businesses to lose out because of Stack is Leeds Castle near Maidstone which has seen a drop of up to 10,000 visitors in the past six to eight weeks, compared with the same period last year.

From the archive: Manston Airport, also previously known as Kent International Airport, pictured in 1989

From the archive: Manston Airport, also previously known as Kent International Airport, pictured in 1989

Days gone by: Rita Bubb and Ingrid Scott wait to welcome passengers to Manston Airport in Kent in 1989

Days gone by: Rita Bubb and Ingrid Scott wait to welcome passengers to Manston Airport in Kent in 1989

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) wrote to the Government last month calling on ministers to address, once and for all, the travel chaos caused by Stack.

We are pleased to support any measures that will ease the pressure on the M20
Paul Brandon, Kent Police deputy chief constable

Stack began as a temporary measure in 1988 but it was now ‘simply unacceptable’ that a workable solution had not been implemented in the intervening years, the FSB said.

The Freight Transport Association says news of the use of Manston could provide respite for local businesses and residents, but a permanent solution was urgently needed.

The Port of Dover warned that a HGV holding area at Manston for traffic bound for the port was neither proved to work nor a permanent solution in itself.