Letter sent on New Year’s Eve warns that area has been purchased for use as customs site.

Deal or no deal, British companies will have to confront a wall of bureaucracy that threatens chaos at the border if they want to sell into the world’s biggest trading bloc when life after Brexit begins on January 1.

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.

Travel expert Simon Calder told Andrew Castle the continued delays at Dover port are a result of Brexit.

When we voted to leave the EU we signed up to such queues and delays at the border, says The Independent's Simon Calder.

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.

More than 100 lorries have descended on a disused airfield in Kent to stage a massive fake traffic jam – all in the name of Brexit. The bizarre scene is a government test of its plans for UK border disruption in the event the UK leaves with no-deal.

Ministers relying on ‘self-belief in their own rhetoric’, haulage boss tells Commons committee.

Four sites in Kent - with capacity to hold thousands of lorries - have already been mapped out, to ease the pressure on major Channel ports like Dover.

Residents are being urged to have their say on Ashford's controversial post-Brexit lorry park – four months after work began on the site.

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".

The A20 runs through Dover town directly to the docks and it is right next to the small community of Aycliffe

Cabinet Office minister attacks refusal to adopt a ‘laissez-faire approach’ to border controls.

Memo warns of ‘critical gaps’ in new IT systems – with just four months to go to end of transition.

A Kent brewery that the government proclaimed as an export champion after Brexit, is racing to find a buyer weeks after it revealed it had only one EU customer left.

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.

New supply chains, brand new system, and ... oh dear, it's still not ready yet.

Unite says customs paperwork causing delays – despite government’s denial Brexit to blame.

Police officers from 33 forces have been deployed to help Kent Police manage Brexit contingency plans, it has emerged.

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.

NHS trust exploring possibility of workers staying overnight if no deal leads to chaos on roads.

The creation of a giant Brexit border control site off the M20 is likely to cost taxpayers a staggering £70 million, it has emerged.

Exporters to the EU face 7,000-truck-long queues in Kent and two-day delays to trade after the Brexit transition period ends, the government has warned.

Floodlights at a Brexit lorry park in Kent have "destroyed" the night sky, residents say.

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.

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.

Kent farming giant reports 8% fall in harvest due to lack of seasonal pickers – saying it’s easier to import fruit.

Kent farming giant reports 8% fall in harvest due to lack of seasonal pickers – saying it’s easier to import fruit.

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.

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.

‘Obviously we recognise there are new processes in place,’ says Downing Street. / No 10 has admitted that “new processes” brought in after Brexit has contributed to several days of travel chaos at the Port of Dover.

London Zoo among names to sign petition calling on action from Rishi Sunak. / Breeding schemes for endangered animals such as rhinos and monkeys are being harmed by Brexit red tape - zoos have warned.

A UK government system to avoid miles of road traffic congestion in the county of Kent as the Brexit transition period comes to an end will rely on software which is not yet in its beta version.

"Very desperate or very stupid, or both," wrote one person in response.

A Kent brewery says it has seen a 95% drop in export sales since the UK left the EU.

"How long until portable toilets are out on the A20 ? There are NO facilities for drivers waiting for hours. Forced to p*ss in bottles like animals."

Britain sent a convoy of nearly 90 trucks on the road to Europe's busiest ferry port Jan. 7 to test how the country might cope with a no-deal Brexit.

British farmers in Kent are worried ahead of Brexit. Many have accused the government of not being up to scratch in the negotiations. They would like another referendum.

Unprecedented labour shortages have left hundreds of tonnes of produce rotting in the fields.

British companies trading with Europe will have to absorb a post-Brexit bureaucracy burden and fill in an extra 215m customs declarations at a cost of about £7bn a year, according to government officials.

Around 10 to 12 inland posts, five of which will be in Kent, are expected to be required to process goods coming in and out of Great Britain.

Canterbury is a European city. Join us in building a strong and visible pro-European movement in Canterbury

An English cheese wholesaler has "given up" on selling to the island of Ireland due to post-Brexit trade rules.

A crisis relief charity is being drafted in to ease the suffering of lorry drivers in post-Brexit queues. RE:ACT Disaster Response usually respond to help after earthquakes, hurricanes and floods.

RE:ACT Disaster Response has agreed a £180,000 six-month contract with Kent County Council to ease stuck truckers’ nightmare waits to board ferries and Eurotunnel shuttles

But the chief executive of the Port of Dover says UK and French governments need to work together to ease new processes.

There's deep disquiet in the food trade over forthcoming sanitary checks. When such checks were previously required, some UK companies were forced to stop exporting.

The leader of Kent County Council told MPs that new post-Brexit biometric border checks could see queues of more than 14 hours - more than the current worse case scenario.

A new inland border control site for HGVs entering the UK via Dover is set for development near the town.

A customs clearance manager explains why lorries are piling up around the port, and the mood among those working on the frontline.

Queues of lorries backed up waiting to be processed at the Port of Dover have become so long the huge tailbacks can be seen on images taken from space.

Port of Dover officials have hit back at claims by the home secretary that long queues at the port are not a result of Brexit.

TRADERS hoping to pass goods through the UK’s busiest port have been hit by further trouble after the Government's post-Brexit IT system went down.

The White Cliffs Hotel is 140 years old but the owner said it suffered a steep downturn after Brexit and the pandemic.

The Kent port issued the alert ahead of many schools in England and Wales breaking up for summer on Friday. / Holidaymakers sailing from the Port of Dover are being warned to expect two-and-a-half hour delays this week.

The site had originally been used to carry out around 2,000 COVID tests a day - but has since shut down.

In the corner of Britain known as the Garden of England, Brexit is literally taking concrete form.

We still believe that our nation will only find true peace and prosperity at the heart of a united Europe.

Europe-bound trains won’t stop at Ashford and Ebbsfleet International stations for at least ‘two to three years’.

The number of seasonal workers applying to work at one Kent-based company is down 90% in the last two years and there are fears for the future.

Emergency traffic measures to last until ‘end of October 2021’ – with a giant lorry park to hold 2,000 goods vehicles.

Food and drink supplies in the UK face more disruption after the end of the Brexit transition period than they did from Covid, the industry has said.

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.

With less than a fortnight to go before the end of the transition period, lorry drivers face huge delays on their way to the border.

Work on inspection posts for animal products crossing Irish Sea ‘has not yet started and will take up to six months to complete’.

The government is exploring a controversial further delay to post-Brexit checks on imports from the EU because of growing alarm that they will exacerbate the cost of living crisis.

The two perishable products have been exempted from rules on how to manage traffic approaching the port of Dover.

Locals condemn lack of consultation over customs clearance site for 1,200 lorries.

A 17-year-old German exchange student is in a serious condition in hospital after he was attacked by a group of teenagers, leaving him with severe head injuries that required emergency surgery.

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.

A 23-mile stretch of the M20 is closed amid HMRC technical problems and a ferry shortage.

Cabinet Minister Michael Gove has defended his plans for new post-Brexit border infrastructure after Labour said the government was unprepared.

Ministers say port does not tell government how long hauliers are waiting for ‘security’ reasons.

Leaked report shows authorities were urged to avoid disclosing ‘potentially damaging information’ on preparations.

Ministers have admitted that emergency traffic measures needed to curb chaos on the roads in Kent would be run into 2021 - as the deadline for securing a Brexit deal looms.

Thousands of lorries may have to queue to get into Europe after December 31

Moveable concrete barrier to replace the chaotic Operation Brock no-deal Brexit system to manage traffic jams on the M20.

The government spent £21 million buying farmland near Dover for a post-Brexit customs checkpoint which has now been axed.

New services provided to ease expected congestion at Kent ports

Ministers urged to fulfil promise of new facilities, as desperate drivers forced to ‘s*** in bushes’.

Port of Dover declares critical incident as high levels of traffic caused lengthy delays.

But over the course of the year, a crisis, fuelled by the decision to leave the European Union, has been steadily, stealthily, stretching its tentacles around many of the services and products we expect and rely on.

Huge 15km queues piling up at the Port of Dover have been blamed ‘entirely’ on extra controls brought in after Brexit.

mages from Google Satellite imagery show hundreds of lorries lining the roads around the Port of Dover after months of chaos delaying crossings.

ondon trains leave Amsterdam at least 78% empty because of constraints on UK border checks. / Thousands of seats are deliberately going unsold on Eurostar trains every day as the cross-Channel train operator struggles with post-Brexit passport controls.

UK and French officials in war of words as holidaymakers hit by long delays.

'It would only work for the richest', Labour leader says.

‘It’s not an effective system to actually ensure someone is ready to cross the border,’ says top logistics body.

The Old Dairy Brewery in Tenterden, Kent, is suffering from Brexit, and is ready to pull out of exporting to EU countries. ... But now they are finding it too costly and onerous to comply with all those procedures. Brexit, they say, has reduced their exports by 95%.

DfT has bought site that will be used for customs clearance and holding pen for lorries, Rachel Maclean confirms.

The war in Ukraine and Brexit has led to serious problems for Kent farmers.

"Then in 2021 we had Brexit which led to a huge increase in paperwork both for importers and exporters and the cost of additional administration. There were transport issues, hold-ups at the border and additional staff pressures, most notably in the agricultural sector with seasonal labour.

Several industries and businesses across the county say they are struggling to recruit following the government's new immigration rules.

Heavy rain has hampered work on site intended to relieve queues around Dover from 1 January.

Emergency plans for Kent are going full steam ahead as the county prepares for chaos.

Traffic hell getting to the county's ports has been exacerbated after it emerged a major post-Brexit customs system crashed - adding extra time for lorries heading to the Continent.

‘Worst case scenario’ also warns of passengers waiting hours to board Chunnel trains to continent.

However, there are fears these breeding programmes designed to save critically endangered species could now be jeopardised by Brexit. / Zoos in Kent say they are being prevented from transferring animals because of red tape.

Officers from as far afield as Gwent in Wales, Devon and Cornwall and Yorkshire have all been moved to the county to deal with the contingency plans brought in to deal with the change in rules when travelling to EU countries.

The government has ordered a 27-acre site be transformed into a customs clearance centre

Lorry drivers were left queuing along the M20 in Kent as Brexit border control tests were carried out at the Channel Tunnel.

Motorists brand works in preparation for potential no-deal queues ‘chaos’ and ‘complete waste of time’.

Lorries are continuing to face tailbacks at Dover, which have been 'sparked by new Brexit checks'.

Angry residents are growing increasingly impatient waiting for a solution to be found to stop lorry park-bound truckers getting lost in Mersham.

One haulier said the long queues seen last week were "entirely [because of] Brexit".

Huge queues are "the new normal" rather than "teething problems", Unite said.

Pictures posted on Facebook showed trucks wedged in precarious positions in the village as they tried to negotiate the winding streets.

Temporary steel barrier to be installed to allow lorries travelling to Europe to be held on the coastbound carriageway.

Only half of UK firms that trade internationally have considered the impact of Brexit on their business, says the British Chambers of Commerce.

'This is all so pointless. We are creating a vast customs bureaucracy, with costs passed on to the consumer'

'Kent deserves better than being turned into a car park because of Boris Johnson’s reckless unwillingness to take a no-deal off the table,' say Lib Dems.

Associated British Ports' (ABP) Dafydd Williams said a significant volume of trade had been re-routed to the Humber.

Work to relocate a motorway barrier built to reduce post-Brexit traffic disruption in Kent will cause delays for up to a year.

Up to 1,700 backed up lorries could soon be forced to wait in the lorry park in Ashford, Kent, which some are already calling the "Farage Garage".

The government agency said there had been a problem with some cameras after a 17k queue formed on the M20.

A 27-acre site is being built to handle trucks amid fears that new trade rules will slow freight movement. It has been nicknamed the “Farage Garage” after the pro-Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.

ITV News Business and Economics Editor Joel Hills reports on the expected delays due to be caused when new biometric checks at the EU border in Kent are introduced.

The Unite union says the queues of lorries outside the town of Dover are a “direct consequence” of the introduction of additional border procedures at the beginning of the year.

Lorry drivers will be required to leave their cabs to undergo biometric checks in order to cross the Channel from next year.

Government must close loophole in law, says officer in charge of no-deal planning.

Operation Brock to cause major disruption around M20 despite likelihood of extension from EU.

'It is prudent that schools begin to plan for possibility of disruption following Brexit'

"A complete waste of time and money" - but it will take 48 hours to stand down Operation Brock.

Road haulage body dismisses trial involving 79 lorry drivers as ‘window dressing’

How could you be affected if the UK does leave the EU without an agreement?

Up to 150 lorries to be used in Kent test of government plans to cope with border disruption

Cabinet said to be unhappy at plans to divert officers to Kent while knife crime soars

'The idea that creating a fake traffic jam will show the EU we are ready for a no deal is just plain stupid'

Exclusive: document seen by the Guardian says core IT system not due to be tested until November.

A plan to manage traffic congestion on a Kent motorway has come into force as part of plans for a no-deal Brexit.

The change means the emergency measure – which repurposes part of the M20 motorway as a lorry park – could be put back in place at any time.

IN September 2019, the UK Government made public its list of “reasonable worst case assumptions” in the wake of a no-deal Brexit.

Permits row also means it is still unclear if drivers will be able to bring over food from the Continent after 1 January, inquiry told.

Activists behind the stunt said police had "better things to be doing with their valuable time" ahead of potential traffic chaos post-Brexit.

Preparations being made at ‘every port and access point from Europe’, senior officer say.

The European Arrest Warrant will no longer be valid if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 31 October.

First time ministers have admitted police will enforce need for ‘Kent access permit’.

"It is a really difficult time to find chefs everyone is struggling, it is a combination of Brexit and COVID. Lots of European chefs have returned to their country and there are not enough English chefs to replace them."

Fear for ‘impact’ on truckers stuck in huge queues when frictionless trade disappears in January

New post-Brexit border rules, set to come into effect on Wednesday, have sparked fears of "serious biosecurity risks" and disruption to supply chains.

British rice milling industry faces wipe-out from part of a trade deal being discussed with India. First proposed by Boris Johnson, it is also predicted to raise consumer food prices and break UK limits on pesticides.

Junior minister says facilities planned in Kent and elsewhere to minimise impact on drivers.

FEARS have been raised over the damage which could be caused by Brexit in less than two weeks’ time, as the clock ticks down on the chance for the UK to strike a deal with the EU.

Ramsgate Port will not be ready in time to welcome extra ferry services in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a councillor for the area fears.

Suella Braverman also argued that travellers caught-up in the mega queues at Dover this weekend should 'be a bit patient'.

Dozens of staff recruited to process and check food goods arriving from Europe could have to be redeployed after the government announced a further delay on new post-Brexit border controls.

London, UK: Supply chains face a ‘winter of chaos’ from a no-deal Brexit and a second Covid-19 spike, says supply chain management company Scala Consulting.

The chaos at ports such as Dover, Felixstowe and Southampton is heightening concerns over whether online Christmas orders will arrive in time.

The odds of crashing out of the EU with No-Deal are rising - and here's why that's a bit of a worry.

There's one thing that the two candidates locked in a bad-tempered battle to be Britain's next prime minister agree on: Brexit is nothing to do with any of the woes facing the UK right now. / The inconvenient truth, as the head of the port of Dover has confirmed, is that Brexit has indeed contributed to the chaos.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said the British government can't force people to do specific jobs. / The exchange came as MPs were asking the environment secretary how farmers can get more labourers to work in fields to prevent food rotting in fields.

David Figgis told Channel 4 Dispatches he voted for something 'better for my country' but 'personally it's a disaster'. / A fruit farmer from Faversham voted for Brexit even though he says it could be catastrophic for his business because he won’t be able to recruit any workers.

Tens of millions pounds from the fund meant to help revive high streets in deprived towns is instead being pumped into the Kent port to tackle Brexit-fuelled delays.

Tory MP Damian Green just tried to claim that building a Brexit customs centre in his constituency is "unfair" to local residents, even though they voted to leave the EU.

Until today, visitors from EU members states, the European Economic Area (EEA), and Switzerland, have been able to use national ID cards to access the UK.

M20 backlog caused by French authorities testing post-Brexit checks at the Eurotunnel

TW-IN is a new non-partisan community group connecting people & businesses in Tunbridge Wells, whilst celebrating what it means to be part of the EU.

A field inland from the White Cliffs of Dover, a totem of English identity, is one of four sites the U.K. has earmarked for conversion into lorry parks for customs checks after Brexit, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Ministers plan to resurrect Operation Brock to manage lines. / U.K. fears traders won’t be ready for new EU customs checks

Sites being acquired as part of efforts to avoid long lorry queues at ports such as Dover.

New border checks in Kent and elsewhere reverse 47 years of removal of trade barriers.

Businesses face 400 million extra customs declarations a year at a cost up as much as £20 billion under government plans.

Council given only hours’ notice of emergency purchase of 1.2m sq ft ‘Mojo’ site.

It comes as the Brexit "divorce bill" negotiated by the PM is up to £5 billion higher than the UK government expected.

UK trade with the EU faces "significant disruption" when the Brexit transition period ends in January, a government spending watchdog has said.

KentLive conducted a straw poll in Dover of 50 people asking how they would vote if they could repeat 2016.

All four Welsh police forces are sending officers to the county as part of a mutual aid scheme.

Mr Johnson told his cabinet this week that leaving the EU without a deal should hold “no fear” for Britain, but was he right?

The government’s Inland Border Point (IBP) at Whitfield has won the support of Dover District Council tonight despite complaints the authority was making“blind deliberations” with no guarantee.

Under new rules introduced on January 1, 2022, freight carriers now have to perform more extensive checks at the UK-EU border and this means that exporting goods to Europe can take longer at the checkpoints.

We asked for a hard EU frontier in southeast Kent, plus tougher passport controls.

Post-Brexit passport rules mean it typically takes 20 minutes to process passengers on a coach – far longer than before.

The UK asked for an European Union external frontier, similar to the hard borders the EU has with Russia and Turkey, to take effect in Kent.

Leaving the EU single market and customs union will bring new friction and red tape for food importers

The Operation Brock system installed to manage expected traffic chaos in Kent after Brexit will now itself cause a year of disruption as the barrier is moved from the edge to the middle of the motorway.

Facility nicknamed Farage Garage is just one of 29 such sites being created across England

The government has announced an extra £2.1bn of funding to prepare for a no-deal Brexit - doubling the amount of money it has set aside this year.

Intense traffic congestion around Dover is partly down to “Brexit scenarios”, according to the head of the British Ports Association.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps warned of "a risk of some additional friction at the border".

The Entry/Exit System is set to start in October but many operational details remain unclear, as fears grow of major delays at Dover and Eurotunnel.

“We drive 44-tonne killing machines. We are professionals, and in Europe we are treated like professionals, but in the UK we aren’t.”

Portsmouth and Dover have done what they can to prepare for no deal but say latest funding will make no difference