News

Eurotunnel is considering a  bid for the UK's high-speed rail line after completing a restructuring that has restored the company to financial health.

Making an offer for the rail link between London St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel is a natural move for Eurotunnel, who already counts Eurostar as a client.

Chairman Jacques Gounon said he could now devote more time to growing the business, including a bid for the high-speed line when it is put up for sale by government-backed London and Continental Railways.

"Eurotunnel now has a strong balance sheet. We will certainly consider the high-speed line," said Mr Gounon.

"We are the only operator that can generate synergies because we have the same customer, Eurostar."

Delays and diversions could occur during the second week in June when highway repairs are carried out along Church Hill, Old Hawkinge, Flegis Court Lane and Standen Lane to the junction with Pudding Lane.

A road closure with a diversion route in place for through traffic will be implemented and access will be restricted during the work.

If you have any special needs that may affect the works then please contact Kent Highway Services 24 hour helpline – 08458 247 800

The surface dressing works are due to commence on or after 10th June 2008 and expected to take up to 3 days to complete, depending upon weather conditions.

Works notification signs will be erected 1-2 days before the works commence.

Ferry services between the England and France have been suspended today due to the blockade of ports by French commercial fishermen.

P&O and Brittany Ferries confirmed that the blockade is affecting Saint Malo, Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk.

In Kent, emergency police operation “Stack� is underway to deal with the huge number of lorries waiting to board ferries.

The channel tunnel is not affected by the action.

The protests, against rising fuel prices and strict quotas, are targeting France’s biggest commercial ports and are affecting ferry services for the first time.

A spokesman for Dover Port Authority said: “The suspension will last at least all day.

“Hopefully we will be up and running again by Friday, but these protestors and their unions are not keeping us abreast of developments.�

At Boulogne, 80 fishing boats formed a cordon across the entry to the Channel port, with similar blockades in nearby Calais and Dunkirk.

The 10-day protest movement spread this week from the Atlantic and Channel to France's number one port in Marseille, where dozens of fishermen continued Wednesday to block road access to oil depots in Fos-sur-Mer and Berre.

In Bordeaux, the fishermen have blockaded commercial and fuel docks.

At La Rochelle, petrol stations across the city are running out of diesel fuel, raising the prospect of panic buying.

Government spokesmen urged motorists not to panic-buy, saying this can only make the situation worse.

The action is likely to continue until tomorrow night at the earliest, according to fishing unions.

Work has begun on the M20 moveable barrier which could reduce the traffic chaos caused when lorries cannot cross the Channel from Dover.

The concrete quick moveable barrier (QMB) is being installed between junctions 11 and 12 of the M20.

It will allow part of the London-bound carriageway to be used for coastbound traffic when weather or strike action affects the port or the Channel Tunnel.

The Highways Agency said the work is expected to take about 14 weeks.

The barrier will be deployed using a special vehicle when phase one of Operation Stack is launched.

It will create a contraflow on the London-bound carriageway, while freight traffic continues to be held on the coastbound section.

It is hoped it will improve journey times for other traffic and reduce congestion on the surrounding roads.

Roads minister, Tom Harris, said the Highways Agency would continue to work with Kent County Council, the police and other partners to help find a longer term solution.

Re: 'Camel' road layout is vast waste of ratepayers' money

I think Lazarus is being unfair to camels, which do serve a purpose.

I am still puzzling why, having taken weeks and oodles of dosh, the lay-out at Aerodrome Road has been altered.

Traffic that has come from Canterbury, negotiating the 'gateway' is hardly likely to then choose to go down Aerodrome Road.

And with the majority of traffic opting at that point to come straight through the village, the expected 'inconvenience' to traffic at that junction travelling north has not materialised. You can sail straight through.

This might be good news for those opposed to the plan, but it has been an expensive exercise.

John

Dear Editor,

Re: Village's new road layout is a mish-mash

You have a point Mr Burns. I too am somewhat disappointed with the completed road layout through the village.

Looks to me like Kent County Council (KCC) have cocked up, yet again.

Whether it be investing huge sums in Manston International Airport, which crashed spectacularly, or the Turner Centre in Margate, which KCC are now trying to recoup some of the millions lost through the courts, or even the plans to site a lorry park near Aldington and the waste processing plant nearby, which has brought hundreds of protesting residents out into the streets, their run of 'bad luck' has now stretched to the much heralded Hawkinge local road plan.

My understanding was for it to be made easier to travel through the village to Canterbury or Folkestone by directing traffic onto the new link road.

I admit, that throughout much of the day this has worked, but during the rush hours when there are not just more vehicles, but also more pedestrians, including schoolchildren, the plan appears to have fallen far short of expectations.

In the mornings, it is not unusual to have a queue of traffic from the roundabout at the bottom of the Spitfire Way to the Churchill School playing field; a distance similar to the length of queues seen in Canterbury Road before the new road was constructed.

Mr Burns has now pointed out that Canterbury Road is being used as what could be described as a 'rat run' and unless KCC steps in quickly we are going to be plagued with even more speeding vehicles trying to avoid the bottleneck on the bypass.

Let's see some positive action from the county council and put in measures to deter the use of Canterbury Road for through traffic, because the way things stand, their smart new road layout is failing miserably to do the job for which it was designed.

So KCC, prove to us you are up to the job to which you've been entrusted. Don't waste any more money, just listen to the villagers, take note and you will see they probably know more than your 'experts' on how to solve local problems.

Tim Piper

It is feared EU regulations risk ruining a reliable local bus service.

The EU directive on working conditions means bus company Stagecoach has had to divide the long distance service between Dover and Hastings.

New rules mean that a bus driver cannot complete any one single route journey of more than 31 miles.

The hourly service which calls at Folkestone, Hythe, Dymchurch and New Romney, will be split at either Lydd or Camber.

There are fears that passengers could miss connecting rail services if there are delays.

A Stagecoach spokesman said they chose Lydd and Camber as they were the places where the number of passengers on the bus is at its lowest and where the buses are scheduled to pass.

The introduction of the new timetable is designed to improve the economy of the operation of the route between Hastings and Dover, which will assist in keeping fare increases down, the spokesman explained.

A television programme to be screened tomorrow evening (31 March) has claimed foreign lorry drivers, thousands of whom drive through the port of Dover, are breaking UK safety laws and risking lives with accident figures rocketing in the last five years.

The show, Killer Lorries on ITV at 8.00pm, reports on concerns from police and transport bodies over an inability to properly sanction foreign drivers, contributing to a rise in accidents.

It says foreign vehicles are three times more likely be involved in accidents than British truckers.

The programme highlights figures showing that in the last five years, accidents involving lorries coming into Britain have risen by almost 50%.

It says 44 people were killed in 2006 and 1,322 injured on British roads in collisions with heavy goods vehicle from abroad.

According to the programme 400,000 foreign lorries are on our roads each year, and drivers are under financial pressure from employers to keep moving. It says that foreign lorry drivers bringing goods into Britain are four times more likely than UK drivers to drive while tired.

It highlights a lack of police powers to prosecute the owners of lorry companies on the continent, even when there is evidence that they know their drivers are working in the UK without taking rest breaks.

Chief Inspector Phil Hibbert of Kent Police tells the programme they have considerable powers to sanction British lorry drivers on safety breaches.

With foreign drivers powers are more limited, but police can delay their journey until they rest up or make vehicle repairs.

Each day at the Port of Dover, 6,000 foreign lorries drive into Britain.

Norfolkline, which has built a thriving cross channel ferry business connecting Dover with Dunkirk, is boosting capacity for the summer by "stretching" its three ships. They are being converted to carry 1,000 passengers, an increase of nearly 30 per cent.

SeaFrance is retiring its slower vessels, Manet and Renoir, with a single high-performance ferry. The ship should be in service for the summer season following a refit.

On Britain's only high-speed rail line, Eurostar has declined to extend its summer route network beyond the usual Brussels, Paris, Avignon and Marne-la-Vallée. But this last destination, serving Disneyland Paris, will have 33,000 extra seats and more convenient schedules during the school summer holidays.

Tickets are now on sale for a new midday departure on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from London St Pancras to Marne-la-Vallée.

Dear Editor,

Re: Residents prepare to fight M20 lorry park proposals

I don't blame these people for challenging this thing.

Surely the Dover Harbour board ought to contribute some land for this; I mean it owns quite a lot of land in the Dover area and it is part author of the "stack" atrocity.

Otherwise, why not pick somewhere such as Elham.

I suggest Elham since they appear to have missed out on all the house building and it's only fair to share the concrete misery around a little.

The only other place I could think of is the land between Aldington and the Lympne Animal Park. This way the fellow who once suggested that the Channel Tunnel would have no "environmental impact" could see directly one of the consequences.

Provocatively yours,,

Lazarus