Freight traffic is being turned around to join Operation Stack in a bid to ease the congestion on the M20 in Kent with hot drinks, snacks and blankets being given to stranded motorists, as night and temperatures fall. This follows the chaos earlier today when 2000 passengers were stranded on broken down Eurostar services.

This latest news comes after Calais announced it was to no longer accept freight traffic from 4pm today and as Eurostar announced that it had cancelled three of the four trains from St Pancras it had laid on this evening to get stranded passengers home.

Police say continued delays are expected for the tailbacks on the motorway and the major routes around the port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel at Cheriton near Folkestone following the earlier closure of the channel tunnel and severe weather preventing ferries from disembarking at Calais.

Chief Superintendent Matthew Nix, coordinating the multi-agency response from Kent Police said: "The welfare of motorists, some of who have remained in their cars for many hours, is our primary concern. With the onset of nightfall we expect temperatures to fall once again and therefore we will be turning freight traffic around in order to ease congestion and allow the backlog of tourist traffic to pass through. This was necessitated by the closure of Calais to freight traffic".

"I would like to reiterate unless your journey is vital, to stay away from major routes around Dover and Folkestone and to consider if their journey is really necessary," said the Chief Superintendent.

Also on Romney Marsh Times: M20 Kent chaos follows snow and tunnel breakdown

Picture (c) Nick Mooney, @nickelf on Twitter.

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