Dreams of a relaxing two weeks on the continent became a living hell at the weekend on the roads leading to Dover.
As temperatures reached 25C (77F) and verges became impromptu lavatories, a police helicopter dropped supplies of water and an international relief charity arrived to deliver aid.
Tens of thousands of motorists crawled towards the port, where the majority of French border posts remained unstaffed on the busiest weekend of the year.
When the traffic stopped totally some travellers played an impromptu football match on the central reservation of the M20 while others danced to the music of a steel band. Tanya Cudworth, who was travelling to Germany for treatment for multiple sclerosis, saw her 50-mile journey to Dover became a 20-hour ordeal.
Mrs
