Brits dash for the Channel in bid to beat France quarantine
British holidaymakers are scrambling to get home before they are forced to quarantine for 14 days after the government last night announced that it was removing France from its travel corridors list.
According to transport secretary Grant Shapps, there are roughly 160,000 UK holidaymakers currently in France who have been caught out by the ministers’ decision.
The restrictions were first announced late last night, and will come into effect at 4 o’clock on Saturday morning, prompting many to make a dash for the Channel.
However, although it has said it will try to lay on extra services, Getlink, which operates the Channel Tunnel, warned Brits not to turn up unless they had a booking.
“Do not turn up unless you have a booking. You won’t get on a crossing”, it said. “This being a peak August weekend, we are already full up with bookings.”
The firm’s director of public affairs John Cliffe told the BBC that there was unlikely to be any additional capacity available.
Brittany Ferries also said that it would not lay on extra ferry services to repatriate marooned Brits.
However, airlines such as Easyjet and British Airways said they would continue to operate their flights as planned.
Shapps also ruled out the possibility of providing compensation for those affected by the disruption, saying that they had been aware of the risks when they decided to travel.
When the government reimposed the same restrictions on Spain a number of weeks ago Shapps was himself forced to cut short his holiday there to come back to the UK and quarantine.
As well as its two largest holiday destinations, the UK has now imposed restrictions on Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and a number of other countries.
It has said it will not hesitate to act again if the spike in cases calls for it.