Thousands of large trucks are still stranded in Britain today, Christmas Day. France lifted its border closure to Britain on Wednesday, but required proof of negative virus tests for those coming from the country. Large numbers of European drivers lined up at three testing stations, angry with France because they couldn’t make it home in time for Christmas.
As of noon Thursday, more than 3,200 trucks needing to return to mainland Europe were still stranded in Britain. Despite the free meals and mobile toilets, these drivers expressed their anger at not being able to return home to their loved ones on Christmas Eve. Yesterday they honked their horns for half an hour in protest.
France and other continental European countries have temporarily sealed their borders since Dec. 21 after the discovery of a variant of the coronavirus in Britain, leaving tens of thousands of large trucks stranded in the country. France announced the lifting of the ban on Wednesday, but asked drivers to provide negative test results.
Thousands of drivers have been waiting in long lines for the tests, and Valéri, a 37-year-old Ukrainian driver, said he had been waiting for three days without a test. He said he would not be able to return home for Christmas and was looking forward to returning home for the New Year.
Pavel, a 34-year-old Polish driver, was lucky to get tested. He told AFP that his whole family is waiting for him to go home for the holidays. He added that 90 percent of the drivers trapped here said they would never stay and spend money in France again.
Angry Bulgarian drivers, Radko, 56, on the other hand, lashed out at the soldiers in charge of the tests, demanding to be tested quickly, and he also denounced minivan drivers being allowed to get in front of large trucks.
The old airport in Manston, the port of Dover and the M20 freeway have virus testing sites, where 320 military personnel are in charge of testing, bearing the wrath of thousands of drivers.
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