Police slow to respond to Dover protest, says council boss

Police were slow to react to an "exceptionally well organised" protest that ground the Port of Dover to a halt for hours, a council boss has said.

Kevin Mills, who leads Dover District Council, told the BBC that demonstrators "caught several agencies on the hoof" when they arrived on Saturday.

Hundreds of masked men chanting "stop the boats" blocked roads, causing miles of tailbacks and preventing access to the port .

Kent Police is yet to comment, but cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds said officers "did deal with it swiftly".

Mills said the force "appeared to be quite slow to keep the roads and the networks open, which is disappointing".

"The protesters knew what they were doing, I'm not sure the police did know what was going to happen," he told the BBC.

The Labour councillor said "no-one actually knew" what was happening on Saturday morning and there "needs to be a wash-up over that".

"All in all it was a pretty traumatic day for a lot of people travelling, trying to get around their business," he said.