The UK international transport industry and hauliers from all over Europe are being seriously inconvenienced by the sudden unannounced action of French fishermen blocking the ports of Calais and Dunkirk.

At 3pm today (December 2) all sailings between Dover and Calais/Dunkirk have been suspended and Kent Police have implemented Operation Stack on the M20, queuing large numbers of lorries as a consequence of the Port of Dover being full.

A perplexed Freight Transport Association (FTA) external affairs director Geoff Dossetter said: "Here we go again - on a very busy Thursday at the very busiest time of year the international haulage industry as well as large numbers of Christmas shoppers have been severely disrupted by the actions of militant French fishermen. As ever, we remain angry and frustrated that these people can get away with this wildcat action. The combination of Operation Stack and suspended sailings is a dead loss cost to all those whose journey has been delayed - it's like having rows of £10 notes being lined up on the roadside.

"Previous experience suggests that the closure of Calais for a day imposes a cost of around £1 million on the transport industry."

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