Nearly a quarter of amber arrivals to the UK haven’t been following the government’s Covid-19 rules, according to new research.
Some 23 per cent of travellers either didn’t self-isolate for 10 days as required or failed to complete the prescribed set of two PCR tests on days two and eight of quarantine, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.
The UK’s national statistical institute surveyed 848 travellers who arrived in the country between 12-17 July, only to find that 41 per cent misunderstood the rules or were unsure of them.
It come has travellers returning to Heathrow Airport have faced “unacceptable” queues at passport control.
Images on social media showed packed queues at the west London airport on Friday night, with travellers complaining of waits of several hours.
A Heathrow spokesman apologised for the delays, but blamed Border Force for not providing enough staff at immigration.
The Home Office, which has responsibility for Border Force, said the wait times were “unacceptable”.
It said Border Force was “rapidly reviewing its rosters and capacity and flexibly deploying our staff across the airport to improve waiting times”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Throughout the pandemic we have been clear that queue times may be longer as we ensure all passengers are compliant with the health measures put in place to keep the UK public safe. However, the very long wait times we saw at Heathrow last night are unacceptable…
“Border Force is rapidly reviewing its rosters and capacity and flexibly deploying our staff across the airport to improve waiting times.”
The Home Office added that Border Force was working closely with Heathrow Airport and its airlines and was committed to ensuring passengers had “a safe and hassle-free journey