Dover delays: My son, 13, & his mates were stuck in Easter holiday chaos for 16 HOURS – starving with no running water

A MUM has revealed her horror after her son was stuck at the Port of Dover for 16 hours amid Easter holiday chaos - claiming the teen and his pals are starving and have no running water.

Gillian Charlton, 43, today said her son Ned, 13, and his mates have been in the same position since 7.30pm on Saturday.

They're just some of those stuck in the horrendous queues at the Port of Dover as the Easter school holidays began - with the traffic sparking a critical incident on Saturday due to the backlog.

Holidaymakers eager to across the Channel were stuck in miles of traffic after bad weather and "lengthy" hold-ups at the French border controls began on Friday night.

And the problems continued to extend yesterday - making it the third day of nightmare delays for Brits desperate for a holiday.

But early this morning, Port of Dover authorities confirmed that "all coaches were cleared".

A statement read: "All coaches that were awaiting border processing in the Port were cleared as of 00.30hrs this morning. Thank you for your patience while we got these vehicles on their journey and apologies for the inconvenience."

Among those stuck were Gillian's son, who set off for a skiing trip with a coachload of pals to catch a ferry over to Pila, Aosta Valley, Italy, for half-term.

However, after waiting 14 hours as they crawled towards passport control, they were stuck for a further two hours without moving.

Worried mum Gillian said the schoolboys are starving after only being offered a KitKat at midnight.

The social care worker, from Chorley, Lancashire, said: "It's shambolic.

"I don't think they have access to running water and can't get off - only to use the portaloo.

"They were given a KitKat at midnight.

"Children are feeling unsafe. They are all starving."

Yesterday, Port of Dover authorities confirmed border processing times for coaches were around four hours.

Gillian said cars are "flying through" but hundreds coaches are backed-up for miles.

She added: "I'm disgusted. My son said there are hundred coaches behind them - and I think it's mainly school kids.

"I sent him off with food for the day and they had breakfast vouchers to get food in France in the morning.

"I'm fuming. The fact that it's mainly school children penned in.

"They should have restricted the bookings.

"They know how many people turn up at the ports. I'm so worried."

Extra sailings were run overnight to try and clear the backlog, which has left passengers stuck in traffic for hours, and by Sunday morning the port estimated some travellers would face waits of up to eight hours, depending on the ferry operator.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman told Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News this morning that it would not be fair to view the delays as "an adverse effect of Brexit".

She said: "What I would say is at acute times when there is a lot of pressure crossing the Channel, whether that's on the tunnel or ferries, then I think that there's always going to be a back-up and I just urge everybody to be a bit patient while the ferry companies work their way through the backlog."

She also downplayed any fears that delays at Dover could become a regular occurrence that risks ruining school holiday plans.

She suggested that in general "things have been operating very smoothly at the border".

In 2021, new passport regulations came into force which state that British passports must be checked in this country by French border control before passengers can cross the Channel.

The way that these new rules have been implemented has meant that checks have taken longer and caused any delays to back up on this side of the border.

'NOT BEEN GIVEN ANY FOOD BY THE PORT'

But families are still fuming over the delays.

Marc Mitchell-Miles, 47, said his daughter Lily set off from Weston-Super-Mare on Saturday with school pals.

The group were also headed for a week long ski trip in Italy.

The party of 100 students - who are travelling on two coaches - arrived at 8pm - but have not moved since.

Marc said: "As parents we're terribly upset and worried that they're having to go through this and I can't be there to provide comfort and reassurance in person.

"We can't settle until we know what's going on.

"There is also the cost of the trip which they're going to be missing out on a sizeable chunk of.

"It cost around £900 for the trip, but then there is also spending money and ski lessons before going on top of this.

"We wanted this to be a memorable experience, but not for this reason."

He said they were advised this afternoon it could be another nine-hour wait.

Marc added: "They have not been given any food by the port.

"My daughter just spoke to me and said she and her friends have gone out to find and buy some sandwiches.

"They're tired from the journey up and have had zero sleep, and she feels like she just wants to come home and is quite teary."

'NO ONE IS TELLING US ANYTHING'

One dad said he had to walk 45 minutes into Dover to get food for his family while they were forced to wait.

Cerie Bullivant, 40, has been stuck for 10 hours.

He said: "We arrived at the port at 2am after taking the midnight coach from London Victoria.

"We were meant to get on a 10am ferry across to Amsterdam to see my wife's parents and were looking forward to it.

"At the Dover port, the queue for the women's toilets is absolutely awful. It has been snaking around the block all morning.

"The men's toilets on the other hand have no queue like usual.

"We don't seem to have any access to free drinking water and can't find anywhere to fill up our water bottles.

"I have just come back from walking into Dover town centre to find my family some food.

"It was a 45-minute walk each way.

"At the port there is a small Costa to provide for all the people here and all the vending machines in the port are completely empty.

"The worst thing is no one is telling us anything and we are not getting any updates."

He added: "So far we have been able to keep the kids entertained with Netflix - thank Goodness for Netflix.

"And we have been bribing them to behave with sweets and treats.

"When I went to the P&O desk earlier to ask for an update, the lady on the desk didn't know anything - which isn't her fault.

"We would just like to get some kind of update on the wait time and ferry situation.

"The cars don't seem to be having a problem getting onto the ferries as they have a separate lane to the coaches.

"It is the coach lane which is taking forever."

'THE PORT REMAINS DEEPLY FRUSTRATED'

P&O Ferries have been tweeting updates over the weekend.

In a recent post on Sunday they said: "We apologise for the wait times in Dover today.

"Once coaches reach our check in desks they will be on the next crossing to Calais."

A statement issued by the Port of Dover earlier today said extra ferry sailings were being put on to help with the backlog.

It said: "The Port of Dover has been working round the clock with the ferry operators and border agencies to get coach passengers on their way, with extra sailings being put on overnight to help clear the backlog.

"Over 300 coaches departed the port on Saturday, with all of the freight backlog cleared and tourist cars processed successfully.

"There remain pockets of coaches still waiting to be processed with smaller volumes of coaches expected today.

"The Port remains deeply frustrated by the continuing situation caused by a mix of lengthy immigration processes at the border and sheer volume of traffic, particularly on behalf of those who have waited for such a long time."

It continued: "Minimal freight is expected today and so the focus remains on ensuring all partners work to get the remaining coaches and other tourist traffic on its way as soon as possible.

"We continue to offer our sincere apologies for the prolonged delays."

Absolute mayhem started on Friday which saw kids physically ill as the port declared a critical incident.

Bad weather and "lengthy" hold-ups at French border controls were said to be behind the problems.