All hauliers entering England face a mass testing regime to combat the threat of new Covid-19 variants from the Continent, despite fears it could disrupt food supplies.

Ministers are to scrap the current exemptions for all lorry drivers, border force officials and other specialist workers entering the country and replace them with mandatory “bespoke” tests to prevent coronavirus variants reaching the UK from the Continent, and particularly France.

The scheme, due to be announced by the Government as early as this weekend, is still being finalised but it is expected to require hauliers to test when they are in the UK rather than at the border in a bid to avoid delays that could lead to supermarket shortages.

All lorry drivers staying longer than two days will be required to have a Covid-19 test within 48 hours and then every 72 hours. This would mean three tests on days two, five, and eight, at one of the 39 testing sites across the UK.

It will be enforced through fines similar to the £2,000 penalties that travellers face if they fail to test on days two and eight during home quarantine. Ministers may give industry seven days to prepare amid concerns over the risk of disruption to trade.

“The potential impact is hard to quantify but there is a concern that an inbound testing regime will introduce an additional burden that could cause significant points of friction,” said a Government source.

“There is a worry that it will upset hauliers who are grumpy post-Brexit. There are concerns about delivering to supermarkets because of any additional delays.“

Border Force staff involved in cross Channel work have been told they will also have to be tested three times a week for Covid-19. It is thought there will be similar arrangements for other workers who are currently exempt from travel restrictions including train and ferry staff.

It comes amid growing concerns over the third wave of the pandemic currently sweeping Europe with the Government scientific advisers most worried about the South African variant, said to account for up to 10 per cent of cases in France.

Story continues

The new testing regime – which is expected to cover all hauliers from any country outside the Common Travel area – is being introduced before any decision to put France on the “red list.”

This would require travellers to hotel quarantine at a cost of £1,750 per person.

France this week lifted its requirement for all hauliers leaving the UK to present a negative lateral flow test, which was introduced in December amid its fears over the Kent variant, now blamed for the surge in cases on the Continent.

It is understood ministers were wary of adopting a similar scheme in reverse, requiring hauliers to test in France before arrival in England, because of the lack of a testing infrastructure in France and the potential delays from checking the certificates at the border.

Boris Johnson hinted at Government thinking on Wednesday when he told MPs: “If it’s necessary to bring in testing then we will do so, but I think you should understand the balance of doing that, the disruption to trade, and the risk that we are trying to address.

“We will take a decision, no matter how tough, to interrupt that trade, to interrupt those flows, if we think that it is necessary to protect public health and to stop new variants coming in.”

He had been challenged by Yvette Cooper, chair of the home affairs committee who said: “So when the South Africa and Brazil variants have now risen to up to 3,000 cases a day in France, why is there no testing for hauliers travelling to the UK?”

Rod McKenzie, of the Road Haulage Association, said that given the testing infrastructure already in place “we could have a reasonable degree of confidence that it would not be too disruptive”.

It came as the Prime Minister faced another backbench rebellion as 35 Tory MP voted against the renewal of Covid-19 powers, warning they could lead to “total social control.” A further 20 abstained.

Amid mounting tensions within the Conservative Party over the “draconian” restrictions implemented during the pandemic, senior MPs lined up to challenge the rollover of emergency measures until September.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, also came under fire after failing to guarantee that the measures would not be renewed again, stating that he could not say whether the Government will be “retiring” the legislation in October.

Backbench pressure is likely to increase as it emerged NHS has reduced the national “alert level” over the pandemic, as pressures on hospitals fall.

Separately, the NHS has downgraded the national Covid-19 alert from four to three after a ‘sharp decrease’ in hospital admissions reduced the pressure faced by the health service.