About 4,000 lorries still waiting to cross Channel after French closed border with UK
A further 800 military personnel are being sent to Kent to help thousands of lorry drivers forced to spend Christmas in their cabs, parked up on roads and in lorry parks around the south coast ports.
The government is trying to rapidly increase testing to clear the backlog after failing to embark huge numbers of stranded drivers since the French authorities reopened the border on Wednesday morning. About 4,000 lorries are still waiting to cross the English Channel after the French closed their border with the UK.