Passport checks on all travellers leaving Britain are being introduced amid fears of delays during peak travel times.
By mid-June everyone leaving the UK will have their passports checked
Fears of long queues at ports on the first day of passport checks for travellers leaving Britain have proved groundless.
The two main areas where delays might have occurred were the approaches to the port of Dover and at the nearby Channel Tunnel terminal in Folkestone.
But with the checks being phased in ferry companies and Eurotunnel reported a trouble-free day.
A spokeswoman for P&O Ferries at Dover said: “There have been no queues coming into the port.”
Eurotunnel public affairs director John Keefe said: “Everything has been going smoothly since we went live with the checks at 6am.
“We asked passengers to have their passports to hand and just one passenger left their’s in the boot of their vehicle.”
For the first month, only 25% of passports will be fully checked, with the percentage increasing to 50% in May and 100% by the middle of June.
However, Eurotunnel decided to implement full checks from the start. “We expected it to go well and it did,” said Mr Keefe.
The government says the checks will provide vital information
But he added: “Over the next five years we are looking at Eurotunnel growth of 20-25% in passengers and 30% in truck traffic.
“The Government’s approach to managing the borders will bring them to a standstill – we need smarter technology.”
As airlines currently gather passengers’ information ahead of time, there is unlikely to be a noticeable difference in queues at airports.
The Home Office has said the checks, which will be staggered across the UK, will create “a much clearer picture of who is staying in the country when they have no right to be here”.
They will also help the police and security services track the movements of known criminals and terrorists.
Security and immigration minister James Brokenshire said: “It is right that we have an immigration system that is fair, that tackles immigration and that clamps down on anyone who tries to cheat the system by staying here when they have no right to do so.
“Exit checks will provide us with vital information that confirms a person’s exit from the UK.”
He added: “Port and travel operators are experts in their business and know their customers best, which is why we’ve supported them to design and trial the systems for collecting data in a way that will minimise the impact on customers.”
More staff have been brought in to cope with the changes, but the real test will come at peak travelling times such as school holidays.
