Dozens of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads leading to Britain’s busiest ferry port on Saturday, causing major traffic disruption and delaying passengers and freight vehicles travelling to France.
The Port of Dover said all traffic entering and leaving the port had been stopped due to an ongoing public order incident, while police said they were engaging with the protesters.
Videos shared on social media showed several dozen men dressed in black, with their faces covered, standing across a major road near the port. In one video, protesters were seen linking arms across the road while chanting, “stop the boats.”
Chris Vinson, a Conservative Party local councillor, described the demonstration as apparently related to illegal immigration.
Although there were no immediate reports of violence, Vinson said the presence of masked men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas was “extremely intimidating” for motorists.
The Labour government condemned the disruption, while acknowledging the right to peaceful protest.
“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but we condemn the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused,” the government said in a statement.
The National Highways agency said the demonstration had blocked all routes into the port, resulting in a traffic queue stretching for about 6.4 kilometres.
Police were later filmed following protesters towards Dover railway station, while access to the port was subsequently restored.
P&O Ferries, which operates services between Dover and Calais in France, said passengers who missed their scheduled crossings because of the disruption would be offered the next available ferry.
Located about 110 kilometres southeast of London, Dover handled more than nine million passengers and two million freight vehicles in 2025, according to figures published on the port’s website.
The town has previously witnessed anti-immigration demonstrations centred on migrants crossing the English Channel from France in small boats.
Successive British governments have struggled to halt the crossings, with more than 40,000 people reportedly making the dangerous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes last year.
The issue has become a major political flashpoint, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage describing the arrival of asylum seekers as an “invasion” during a speech on Friday.
The government, however, said increased law-enforcement cooperation between Britain and France had helped reduce the number of people making the Channel crossing by more than 40 per cent so far this year compared with 2025.
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP representing Dover, criticised the protesters for travelling to the town to cause disruption.
He described them as “idiots coming to Dover to cause disruption” and said they appeared unaware that Channel crossings had fallen significantly this year.
“Go home, enjoy your weekend/get a job,” Tapp wrote on Facebook.
