OPERATION CODENAME

There used to be a saying, "Fog in the Channel - Continent cut off." Well, the modern day equivilent must be "Industrial action in Calais - Kent in turmoil."

Yes, folks - thanks to our Gallic brethren once again taking industrial action in Calais, the port of Dover has ground to a halt. In consequence, the ferries aren`t working between the two ports and hundreds if not thousands of articulated lorries are unable to make their journeys back to the continent. So, Operation Stack - the Kent Police codename for turning the M20 Motorway into a lorry park - has again swung into action.

Operation Stack has two Phases, but both see the closure of the coast bound M20 to all traffic apart from the waiting lorries - the majority of which are foreign ones. Phase One sees the closure of the section between Hythe and Cheriton, just outside Folkestone, with the old A20 road forming the alternative route for non-lorry traffic.

Phase Two sees the closure of the whole length of the M20 between Maidstone and Ashford, again with the old A20 providing the diversion. The upshot of all this is that, sometimes for days on end, the coastbound M20 throughout large chunks of the county is closed to `ordinary` traffic. The other consequence being that those villages spread along the old A20 (Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Chilham and the like) are pretty much logjammed with all the diverted traffic. And all because of some malcontented French `workers` take it upon themselves to go on strike - which is an all too frequent event.

I don`t know what the answer is, but local authorities are considering various schemes to provide an alternative lorry park to using the M20. But I do know that any solution is going to cost the local and possibly national taxpayer a considerable amount, along with some planning difficulties for rural communities.

So it`s a double whammy, merci beaucoup. The inconvenience of denying the use of the Queen`s highway and the prospect of paying through the nose to sort out a problem which is none of our making. Here`s a thought - the Kent Police codename of Operation Stack is disarmingly descriptive, of course, but I`m tempted to suggest they rename it Operation Merde. I`m sure we will be kept fully in formed (sic.) (Click on photos for larger images.)