Trevor Bartlett, leader of Dover District Council, warned the port will be “under severe pressure throughout the busy Easter getaway”.

In an open letter, he wrote: “It would be remiss of me not to warn you to expect, and prepare for, some disruption again this weekend.

“I have made it clear to the Kent Resilience Forum, Kent Police and Kent County Council that we will not tolerate another weekend of gridlock in Dover.”

The Port of Dover has urged passengers to “allow plenty of time for their journey” and said it is working “tirelessly to move traffic as effectively as possible”.

DFDS Ferries, which operates passenger vessels from Dover to Calais, said it had “worked hard to increase passenger capacity and the number of sailings over weekends” and is experiencing “very high booking levels” ahead of Easter.

In a statement, the company said: “Right now, we are doing what we can to help relieve congestion in and around the port – we are filling our vessels with just a 42-minute turnaround time in port, loading and uploading as quickly as we can.”

Airports are telling passengers to arrive no earlier than three hours before their flights, as worries about plane delays and cancellations due to Covid-related staff shortages are resulting in passengers arriving too early.

Several airlines and airports are struggling to cope with staff sickness and shortages, with a total of more than 100 daily flights being cancelled by easyJet and British Airways.