Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of HGVs that can be accommodated on a temporary basis on the M26.

The Department is working with Highways England and other key stakeholders to finalise the Operation Brock plans. Operation Brock consists of three phases, involving a contraflow queuing system on the M20, and holding areas at Manston Airport and finally, and only if necessary, on the M26.

The initial assessment made by Highways England is that the M26 could potentially accommodate up to 2300 HGVs if all running lanes on both carriageways were utilised, subject to the necessary health and safety risk assessments.