Residents next to a large Brexit lorry park in Ashford say it is as bright as Wembley Stadium and has ruined the dark night sky for miles around.
From up above, it resembles a sports stadium, void of spectators or athletes. Or a motorway service station, similarly vacant without a car or a lorry in plain sight.
Ashford Brexit lorry park consultation starts - four months after work began on site near Junction 10a
15/10/2020
Residents are being urged to have their say on Ashford's controversial post-Brexit lorry park – four months after work began on the site.
Ashford Brexit lorry park impact still secret as government rejects Freedom of Information request
10/12/2020
Government officials are continuing to block the release of information about the impact of post-Brexit lorry park holding sites, saying it is not in the public interest.
A post-Brexit customs centre for up to 10,000 lorries has been earmarked for a 27-acre site in Kent, in a plan the local MP says came "out of the blue".
Another Brexit advertising campaign. They've replaced sporting events as signs of the changing seasons. Instead of Wimbledon or the Olympics, we get Michael Gove talking gibberish on television and further millions poured into preparedness exercises for an outcome with no tangible benefits.
This week, the practical realities of what Brexit is going to mean came into central focus for perhaps the first time, with a new government information campaign.
Brexit Inland Border Facility off M20 at Sevington, near Ashford, set to cost taxpayers £70 million
01/03/2023
The creation of a giant Brexit border control site off the M20 is likely to cost taxpayers a staggering £70 million, it has emerged.
Floodlights at a Brexit lorry park in Kent have "destroyed" the night sky, residents say.
Brexit lorry park in Ashford 'like Wembley Stadium' as residents demand changes to lighting
27/05/2021
A huge Brexit lorry park in Ashford is as bright as Wembley Stadium and has ruined the dark night sky for miles around, according to angry residents.
The government has paid the owner of land being used as a Brexit lorry park in Ashford almost £6m in rent, it has emerged.
The border facility, which is still under construction, was set up by the Government to hold around 1,700 lorries in case of border disruption.
Brexit lorry park: Department for Transport yet to assess environment impact of huge site in Ashford
08/09/2020
The government is yet to work out the potential environmental impact of a huge Brexit lorry park - even though construction started almost two months ago.
Brexit minister Liz Truss asked to visit Mersham near Ashford as another truck gets stuck on way to lorry park at Sevington
02/01/2022
There are calls for the new Brexit minister Liz Truss to visit a village near Ashford where truckers keep getting lost on their way to a lorry park.
Brexit not okay for Kent
25/10/2022
Note that the slogans on these placards all represent news that has reached us about the effects of Brexit on Kent specifically. Some of these have featured in articles in Kent Bylines, as linked in the explanations below.
The U.K. government just presented a 206-page manual for how the country will trade with the European Union on Jan. 1, when Britain’s exit from the 27-nation bloc becomes official 4 1/2 years after the nation voted to leave.
Eurostar has warned that Brexit formalities are threatening its business, although it is holding out hopes that a new digital immigration system will simplify the procedure in due course.
Eurostar blames Brexit as 'main factor' in cutting Disneyland Paris trains and St Pancras station delays
27/09/2022
Extra border checks mean St Pancras can't handle as many passengers as it did before Brexit.
Eurostar could be forced to stop running London-Amsterdam trains for almost a year in 2024
06/06/2023
The incredible shrinking network: Brexit plus refurbishment could see the number of stations served by the cross-Channel train operator cut from 13 to four.
Europe-bound trains won’t stop at Ashford and Ebbsfleet International stations for at least ‘two to three years’.
Fears of dead chicks in lorries and 10 months of ports chaos detailed in new government document
04/08/2020
Emergency traffic measures to last until ‘end of October 2021’ – with a giant lorry park to hold 2,000 goods vehicles.
Fears over Brexit customs clearance centre in Ashford after government snaps up MOJO site near M20 Junction 10a
11/07/2020
A vast Brexit customs clearance centre catering for thousands of lorries on the outskirts of Ashford will result in huge disruption, fears the town's MP.
Giant Brexit Inland Border Facility off M20 at Sevington, near Ashford, sitting empty, drone pictures reveal
25/01/2023
Drone pictures reveal how a giant Brexit border control site off the M20 near Ashford is now sitting empty.
Work on an "emergency lorry park" in Kent to accommodate up to 10,000 vehicles bound for Europe began without the knowledge of residents.
Thousands of lorries may have to queue to get into Europe after December 31