Protest blocks port

The Port of Dover reported that traffic is flowing through the port after the police put a stop to the protest on roads around the port, including the  A20, by Insulate Britain, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion.

Doug Bannister, CEO at the Port of Dover, said: “The Port implemented its tried and tested resilience plans in order to deal with the impact of the protest. The Port has consistently shown its ability to deal with such challenges and today’s targeted activity shows once again the importance and symbolism of Dover to the nation as a critical trade and tourism artery on which the UK continues to rely.  We worked with our customers and the police authorities in managing the situation quickly and apologise to our community for any disruption caused by a situation not of our making.”

Operations back to normal by afternoon

40 protesters blocked traffic to the port on 24 September, said Insulate Britain on its Facebook page.

On its Facebook page, Kent Police said a total of thirty-nine people were arrested following protest activity, and remain in custody.

The main protest began at 8.20am BST and was cleared by police by two hours later, according to the BBC. One lane of the A20 remained blocked afterwards, as two protesters were sitting on top of a tanker with their hands glued to the vehicle, said the news site.

The port reported traffic flowing through the port just before 12.30pm.

On 15 September the port announced the University of Kent is leading a new research and innovation project with the Port, P&O Ferries, Warwick Manufacturing Group and Schneider Electric to investigate steps towards decarbonisation of the cross-channel ferry fleet. This is part of the national priority of achieving net-zero by 2050.