Arrests as security alert closes Dover

Most ferry services from Dover have returned to normal

Three men are being held by police after a security alert which brought Dover port to a standstill.

Thousands of passengers faced lengthy delays following the discovery of prohibited weapons, thought to be guns, in a car arriving on a ferry from Calais.

The port was closed to traffic as Army bomb disposal experts spent several hours examining the car in the customs surveillance area of the eastern docks.

P&O and Norfolk Line ferries are now running on time, and police say the backlog of road traffic has also cleared around the town of Dover.

At the height of the security alert 10 ships carrying several thousand passengers were left stranded out in the Channel between Dover and Calais waiting to dock.

'Police matter'

Another four that were inside the port when the alarm was raised were delayed by several hours.

Meanwhile, roads became jammed as motorists travelling to catch overnight ferries were unable to reach the port.

The men were initially arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act but British security sources have told the BBC they are being investigated over ordinary criminal offences rather than terrorist offences.

The sources said the men, being held at a police station in Kent, were British and that Saturday morning's operation was a "police matter" rather than an intelligence operation.

The weapons had been found during a routine search using X-ray equipment after the car was stopped at 1921 BST on Friday, she added.

Obviously to shut the port of Dover is not a decision to be taken lightly Chief Inspector Paul Wilczek

A 400-metre exclusion zone set up on the port site itself was lifted at 0245 BST and roads closed to incoming traffic were reopened.

Chief Inspector Paul Wilczek explained why police had taken such drastic action overnight.

"The initial indications we had were that we were dealing with something quite serious," he told BBC News.

"Obviously to shut the port of Dover is not a decision to be taken lightly. But we were sufficiently concerned with what we found initially to invoke the safety plan for the port."

To clear traffic jams threatening to gridlock the town centre, police instigated Operation Stack, which involves shutting sections of the M20 motorway to use as a car park for vehicles waiting to enter the port.

The port was closed to traffic for several hours

The police spokeswoman confirmed port operations were now returning to normal, saying: "Ferries are now allowed to dock and traffic is moving through the door."

A P&O spokeswoman said: "After around 2.40am our ferries were able to berth as normal. The timetable is now running as planned."

She said eight P&O vessels, one of which was a freight carrier, had been affected.

Take refuge

Passengers planning to travel from Dover this weekend were earlier warned by port authorities to "check with the ferry companies before starting out for the port".

Many passengers arriving to catch overnight services had to sleep in their vehicles or take refuge in shop doorways.

One passenger who was returning from a "booze cruise" to the continent described on Friday evening how his ferry had circled around about one mile outside of Dover.

"There's a couple of hundred people on board. Everybody knows what's going on apart from the captain," the 56-year-old from Medway, Kent, said.

"He keeps coming on and staying he doesn't know what's wrong, but we all do.

"There's lots of kids trying to sleep and teenagers playing cards. People are on their mobiles chatting."

P&O, Sea France and Norfolk Line all operate from Dover during the evening.