One in seven Brits reckon they'll swerve trips to once the EU's new border checks kick in. A Department for Transport's survey of 1,584 people aged 16 and up flagged up worries about extra queuing or paperwork when legging it from the UK to the Continent as the top concern about the incoming Entry/Exit System (EES). The survey also showed that if ferry delays over an hour popped up because of the new system, 20% of people would bin or push back their trip to European countries.
The EES, which is all about tightening up border security, is set to start on October 6. Brit travellers will have to get their fingerprints and mugshot taken to get on the database the first time they rock up at a member state, with the info kept for three years. There's concern that this could mean mega queues at Dover port, Folkestone Eurotunnel, and St Pancras station, where the French do their border checks before you jump on cross-Channel transport, reports .
Phil Smith, who looks after coach travel at the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said: "It is vital for coach passengers and the sustainability of coach travel to Europe that UK ports make sure that systems are in place so that the EU's new Entry and Exit system does not cause long delays when it comes into force in October. "UK coach companies travelling to Europe generate significant amounts of revenue for the UK economy and for the countries to which people travel by coach more than £14 billion every year from around 23 million indi.
