Traffic into the Port of Dover is returning to normal following days of queueing for France-bound travellers.

The port said on Twitter that, as at 2.15am on Sunday, the system brought in temporarily to handle traffic had ended, and that freight traffic was now able to travel straight to the site.

It added that tourist traffic was also “clear” and the approach roads – the A2 and A20 – “are flowing normally”.

Travellers setting out at the start of the British school summer holidays, as well as the usual flow of goods lorries, had faced long delays because of slow border checks.

The UK government had blamed a shortage of French border staff, and the French government had argued that passport checks were taking longer now that the UK is no longer part of the European Union.

On Friday, 8,500 cars were processed, but by lunchtime on Saturday, the number processed had already reached more than 17,000.

One family with three children in the car told Sky News they were stuck for nearly 11 hours, while another said they had been queueing for three hours, but they still had a long way to reach border control.

Natalie Chapman from haulier group Logistics UK said some lorry drivers had waited “in excess of 18 hours” to cross the Channel.

Read more:
Bumper-to-bumper traffic in Dover as UK and France argue over who is to blame for disruption
Nine tips to reduce how much fuel you use
London Southend Airport offers to host flights being cancelled by bigger, struggling airports

French regional prefect Georges-François Leclerc was asked by BFM TV if French customs officers were to blame for the delays seen on Friday and Saturday.

He said they were not, adding: “The Port of Dover, which is a private port, found it easier to blame the French police.”

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is competing to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, said: “This is a situation that has been caused by a lack of resource at the border.

“That is what the French authorities need to address and that is what I’m being very clear with them about.”

Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chair, said the government had failed “to get a grip” on the problem, labelling it “chaos”.