British passengers tweet their anger during Calais port blockade

Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart wrote on Twitter that it was regretful that the port “had been taken hostage” again – and called for “firm action” to be taken.

A three-way deal backed by the French government late Monday raised hopes of resolving a long-running dispute that has hampered ferry traffic at Calais and disrupted cross-Channel rail services. The blockade had affected many Brits who had planned their journeys for the Bank Holiday.

Local authorities and ferry companies P&O and DFDS, which saw thousands of their customers delayed by the blockade – some stranded on the boats themselves – confirmed the action had ended.

Ferry movements at the northern French port were suspended due to industrial action, Port of Dover officials said.

And last night there was the possibility that its Calais Seaways vessel may have to be diverted to Dunkirk due to the blockade. “All services are operating to the advertised scheduled with space available”.

The protest ended in the early hours of Sunday morning after causing monumental disruption to Europe’s busiest sea port. DFDS tweeted, “Calais port has now reopened, normal service resumed”. One of the stranded passengers from yesterday, Nicholas Bernier, explained the situation and said that “I’m roughly about two miles from the Port of Calais”. Ferries were unable to leave or enter both Calais and Dover for several hours. “The seating is very limited now and people are starting to get tired”.

Former employees at MyFerryLink have also orchestrated wildcat strikes before this summer, causing delays and cancellations for British holidaymakers looking to cross the Channel.

French workers are protesting over the loss of up to 600 jobs.

Prime minister Manuel Valls is visiting Calais today to discuss the migrant crisis.