Hauliers have warned that contingency planning for the road network in the event of a no-deal Brexit is "dire" and "simply not good enough".

The head of the Road Haulage Association criticised the way preparations were being made to ensure the road network remained congestion free and that customs checks did not cause delays.

RHA chief executive Richard Burnett spoke out today at a meeting of French businesses and officials at the Hauts de France regional government headquarters in Lille.

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Hauliers say contingency planning for the road network in the event of a no-deal Brexit is "simply not good enough"

He said planning for road transport in the event of a No-Deal Brexit was "dire" and "simply not robust enough".

His comments came on the day Prime Minister Theresa May announced a vote on her Brexit deal has been postponed because it would not have made it through parliament.

Mr Burnett set out the complex customs procedures that would be needed, giving the example of one haulier who has 8,000 different shipments on a lorry – each requiring an import and export declaration and a Safety and Security Declaration.

He said that with 3,000 trucks a week crossing the channel for that one firm that would mean millions of pieces of paperwork.

"With each declaration taking 10 minutes you would need 170 people working eight hours a day to process one load," he said.

"Customs processes simply won’t work."

Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Hauliers Association

He went on to say Government assurances that they would relax rules to allow faster movement of lorries "may mean firms are breaking the law by not doing customs paperwork and no responsible firm will want to take that risk."

“It’s critical we keep volume moving in case of a no-deal Brexit and UK haulage businesses are deeply concerned about the lack of clarity and information," he said.

The misgivings were echoed by his colleague Duncan Buchanan, the RHA’s policy director, who tweeted: “Two years squandered. Really failed to prepare.

"Portable toilets planned for M20 and M26 really sums up how poor preparation is.”

The RHA had backed Theresa May’s Brexit deal, saying that while it had some concerns, rejecting it without an alternative transitional period could mean that the industry responsible for moving the UK economy would "stagger towards a cliff-edge disaster."

The Tunbridge Wells based Freight Transport Association have also called for a deal to be done with the EU to prevent delays to goods through Kent.