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Chancellor pledges £200m to tackle Operation Stack

In his spending review announce yesterday, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has allocated £250m to deal with disruption caused by Operation Stack in Kent.

Following talks with MPs in Kent, Osborne said the investment would relieve pressure on Kent’s roads.

The government funds would pay for a new lorry park and there would be consultation on a preferred site at Stanford or alternative sites.

Osborne said: “It is the largest road investment programme since the 1970s - for we are the builders.”

Operation Stack affects traffic on the M20 in Kent during ongoing disruption to Eurotunnel services from Folkestone or ferries from Dover. The traffic-management tactic can see up to 5,000 lorries parked on the motorway at one time.

Kent County Council leader Paul Carter said: “Operation Stack is a national issue and we very much welcome the government’s recognition of this.”

Thanet North MP Roger Gale said: “Hopefully, we will now be able to move forward to properly regulate our lay-bys and our verges so we don’t have lorry drivers using the highways and byways as lavatories.

“Some of the lay-bys in east Kent are absolutely revolting. Now we’ve got the opportunity to provide a proper facility, there can be no excuse for that kind of behaviour.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .