Tensions are mounting as stranded drivers begin being tested for COVID-19, in a bid to get blockaded traffic moving on a vital trade route between Britain and France.
Furious truck drivers have scuffled with police around the English port of Dover, as a partial blockade by France designed to contain a highly infectious strand of COVID-19 has stranded thousands before Christmas.
Paris and London agreed late on Tuesday that drivers carrying a negative test result could board transport for Calais in France from Wednesday, after much of the world shut its borders to Britain to contain the fast-spreading new mutated variant.
Britain has begun testing drivers, but has warned severe delays are set to remain for some time and implored freight drivers to avoid areas around what is Britain’s most important trade route for food.