Shops are rejecting entire truckloads of deliveries over hygiene fears at a time when UK supermarkets are starting to run short of vital supplies.
Express (h/t Susan K) Some drivers are taking detours of 100 miles into Holland to avoid gangs of would-be asylum seekers trying to sneak into the UK in the back of trucks.
Giving evidence at parliament today, the head of Britain’s leading haulage group told MPs that the shocking scale of the migrant crisis means truckers are now having to dump £1billion worth of food a year.
Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said stowaways often defecate inside lorries on the way to Britain meaning whole loads become completely unsalvageable.
He told the Home Affairs Select Committee: “The owners of goods have to take the drastic action of scrapping loads as they cannot take the risk that they have been contaminated or damaged.
“With something in the order of 10,000 loads moving every day across the Channel, even if only one per cent are tampered with or soiled, at a loss rate of about £30,000 per trailer, this equates to about £3million a day, equalling to £1billion a year.
“That’s a massive and unacceptable cost to our economy and many hauliers are having to absorb large parts of that cost.
“On top of that are the other enormous costs of vehicles unable to work as a result of being caught for days on end in Kent’s Operation stack and penalty payments for lack of delivery. In addition, the stress caused to drivers is incalculable.”
Haulage experts had previously estimated that Britain was throwing away up to £10million a month in food.
However, since then the situation in Calais has deteriorated significantly, with French police having almost completely lost control of the port town.
Thousands of migrants now roam the streets unchecked trying to break into lorries and make their way to Britain, terrorising truckers and tourists.
Despite the dire situation, it was revealed this week that the European Union (EU) has authorised an enormous project to more than double the size of the port.
Britain could be expected to contribute €80million – or £57million – towards the enormous expansion, which will include a new ferry terminal and a rail link to the south of France.
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