The Independent<\/a> \/ YouTube<\/p>\nMasked men could be seen at Dover Priory station at around midday boarding a train.<\/p>\n
A UK government spokesperson said: \u201cThe right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but we condemn the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate the frustration of those who have been impacted today. Access to the port is now restored and traffic is flowing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose travelling to the Port are advised to allow for extra travel time and to follow guidance from providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank policing partners and travel providers who we continue to work with to ensure the safety of passengers and the wider community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillor Chris Vinson, leader of the Conservative group and the member for Walmer on Dover District Council, told the Press Association the demonstration appeared to be a \u201ccoordinated\u201d group of \u201cseveral hundred masked men\u201d.<\/p>\n
The councillor said it had \u201cbrought the town to a standstill\u201d and left \u201cstacks of people\u201d stuck in their cars or workplaces.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI\u2019m not aware that there\u2019s been any violence, although clearly, having the path of your vehicle blocked by men wearing black paramilitary gear and balaclavas is extremely intimidating, especially when it\u2019s not clear why they\u2019re there, and the police weren\u2019t aware and so haven\u2019t been able to warn people in advance and make sure that they are made to feel safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know people who have worked night shifts in the port who are being prevented from leaving for fears for their safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen who are in cars feeling intimidated, people stuck in traffic \u2013 who obviously are without toilet facilities \u2013 queues way back on the A20 and the other approach roads into Dover.\u201d<\/p>\n
P&O Ferries said just before midday that \u201caccess to the Port of Dover has now been restored\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Port of Dover wrote in a statement on X: \u201cPort approach roads are now free flowing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Videos showed dozens of protesters milling around roads and roundabouts near the major port, forcing vehicles to a halt.<\/p>\n
Others showed demonstrators linking arms in a blockade across the A20, shouting \u201cstop the boats\u201d.<\/p>\n
Activists could be seen marching along the A-road, chanting: \u201cEngland \u2019til I die.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a post on social media, activist Tommy Robinson suggested Saturday\u2019s protests in Dover were part of a coordinated plan.<\/p>\n
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, wrote on X: \u201cSimultaneously at different locations across Dover patriots have mobilised to close down the port.\u201d<\/p>\n
National Highways said the protests had caused four miles of traffic congestion around the town, causing delays of up to 45 minutes.<\/p>\n
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal, criticised the masked men and said he was in contact with the police.<\/p>\n
Writing on Facebook, he said: \u201cI am fed up with idiots coming to Dover to cause disruption. I bet if you asked any one of those \u2018protesters\u2019 they wouldn\u2019t know small boat crossing are down by 40% and we are working hard to fix the mess.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo home, enjoy your weekend\/get a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul King, the Reform UK councillor for Dover West, said he has been told the demonstration is a \u201cstop the boats protest\u201d.<\/p>\n
He wrote on Facebook: \u201cAvoid the port area, large number of men have blocked the A20. I\u2019ve been told it\u2019s a stop the boats protest speaking to local women, they felt frightened by such a large group of men walking up the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t condone causing public disturbance by protest. But it\u2019s a very good example of what is happening daily with the boats coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dover is the UK\u2019s busiest international ferry and passenger port, dealing with 9,128,648 passengers by road in 2025 and 2,119,030 freight vehicles, according to the port\u2019s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUNDREDS OF MASKED anti-immigrant protestors clad in black blocked roads in Dover earlier today.\u00a0 Footage showed the group,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[10412,9,10,285307,195653,18,13,14,6,19,17,24787,11,12,15,16,5,112193,285308,285309,34657,7,8],"class_list":["post-674923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-anti-immigrant","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-channel-crossing","tag-dover","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kent","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-port","tag-protestors","tag-small-boats","tag-tommy-robinson","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117222534453265836","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}