Stack Rage: Overtime Costs Top £100,000 with No Solution in Sight
June 13, 2005 2:49 PM
Reports Operation Stack has cost Kent Police more than £123,000 in overtime payments this year have led to renewed calls for Highways Agency action.
Kent Transport Board wants a lorry park to be built so trucks do not have to wait on the M20 during port delays. Local Liberal Democrats are interested in the idea, and have been calling for Operation Stack to be reviewed due to the traffic chaos caused, seemingly increasingly often, to Folkestone and Hythe motorists.
Hythe resident and Lib Dem campaigner Darren Briddock said:
"Frankly, as a local resident and businessman, the stress caused on days Operation Stack is running is incredible. It not only disrupts travel on the M20 itself, but causes real problems on local roads as traffic tries to avoid the motorway. A proper look at all the alternatives to Operation Stack is well overdue.
"It's important that the environment is properly considered - we've got some of the country's most beautiful areas, and we must not endanger them. But the costs to local residents of Operation Stack - in pollution, frustration and even police overtime costs - are increasing too. Something needs to change."
The Highways Agency has said it is looking for a solution but has no proposals yet. In a statement it said:
"The Highways Agency is working with a number of agencies to help find a long-term solution to Operation Stack. Using land to park lorries off the highway is just one of a range of ideas that have been put forward.
"These will need to be discussed in more detail and it is too early to say at this stage what might emerge as a solid proposal."
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