Britain’s fresh food supplies over Christmas are facing serious disruptions after France shut its border with the UK to stem the spread of a new variant of the CCP virus.
In a post on Twitter, the Port of Dover explained that the ferry terminal is now closed to all accompanied traffic leaving the UK until further notice.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), the UK’s peak representative body for the food and beverage manufacturing sector was also concerned by the closures.
In a thread on Twitter, Ian Wright, the chief executive of FDF said that the suspension of traffic had the potential to cause serious disruption to UK Christmas fresh food supplies as truckers from continental Europe “will not want to travel here if they have a real fear of getting marooned.”
Wright urged the UK government to “urgently persuade the French government to exempt accompanied freight from its ban.”
Britain’s transport secretary Grant Shapps also advised the public, particularly hauliers, not to travel to Dover and other ports in Kent, as the government expects “significant disruption in the area.”
“My department is urgently working with Highways England and Kent Council on contingency measures to minimise traffic disruption in the area,” he wrote in a post on Twitter.
