Operation Brock cost branded 'phenomenal'

The implementation of a traffic-holding system for lorries queuing to cross the English Channel cost more than £3m last year, it has been revealed.

Operation Brock involves setting up a contraflow system on the M20 coast-bound, between junctions eight and nine, so that one side of the carriageway can become a giant lorry park if there are problems at the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel.

A BBC Freedom of Information request revealed an initial deployment cost of £226,000 and an additional cost of nearly £35,000 every 24-hour period.

Dover District Council leader Kevin Mills has described the cost as "phenomenal", with those behind Operation Brock insistent that it remains the only option at present.

Mills said: "That's £3m that could be spent on something else. It seems to be an awful lot of money, and then you divide that by the number of hours, it gets worse and worse and worse."

He said National Highways should be using some of the cost instead to look for more permanent solutions such as lorry parks.

According to the figures, Operation Brock was used to park lorries for a total of 136 hours over a 69-day period.

This system is funded by the DfT, with decisions on its use made by the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF).

Toby Howe from the KMRF defended the operation as the best option to avoid gridlock in Kent.

"It's easy with hindsight to say it was only used for 136 hours, but to plan, you have to assume the worst," he added.

There are concerns Operation Brock will have to be used even more times this year with new EU digital border checks being implemented fully, which will add to the time it takes to process each car heading to the EU.

Last July, Kent County Council said it was looking for alternatives to the system including an off-road lorry facility.

In a statement, National Highways, which operates the system, said it was continuing to work with the government to develop longer-term traffic-management solutions, adding: "We know Brock affects residents."

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