Disruption at Port of Dover due to 'stop the boats' protest
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Disruption at Port of Dover due to 'stop the boats' protest
[Figure caption: Masked men chanting 'stop the boats' protest at Port of Dover]
By Simon Jones and Craig Buchan (South East)
Published 5 September 2026, 09:00 BST
Updated 34 minutes ago
There has been major disruption at the Port of Dover due to a large group of masked men holding a demonstration.
- Hundreds of protesters, dressed in black and wearing face coverings, blocked roads and were heard chanting "stop the boats".
- Traffic was stopped from going in and out of the port, with the government condemning "the behaviour in Dover and the travel disruption it has caused".
- Kent Police, which made no arrests, described it as a "spontaneous" protest. They moved the crowd to Dover Priory railway station around 11:30 BST, and all involved had dispersed by 12:00.
Paul King, Reform UK councillor for Dover West, said he believed it was a "stop the boats" protest.
Kent Police has not yet commented on who organized the demo.
Far-right activists Tommy Robinson and Danny Thomas both posted about the incident on X, praising those involved.
Anti-hate organization Hope Not Hate claims that Patriot Platform, a network of anti-migrant groups, arranged the protest, having met in July to bring members together from around the country.
Demonstrators refused to speak to the media, with one saying "send them back" and another "stop the boats".
Dover and Deal MP Mike Tapp described the incident as causing "absolutely awful disruption" for residents. He added: "I bet if you asked any one of those 'protesters' they wouldn't know small boat crossings are down by 40% and we are working hard to fix the mess."
The Port of Dover said operations had returned to normal, with all routes in and out of the town reopened. Ferry operators P&O and DFDS offered to get passengers on to the next available sailing if they missed their scheduled crossing.
Ferry passenger Remco van Schellen arrived from the Netherlands at about 08:00. He described being unable to leave the ferry terminal due to protesters blocking roads.
Tour guide Rafael Pittman from London said the area was "absolute chaos" during the three hours he waited to pick up a group of tourists who had docked in Dover.