Travel chaos has been reported at airports across the country after Border Control was apparently hit by a nationwide IT outage.
The issue has so far been confirmed to have affected Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick and Manchester, with passengers now facing huge queues and long wait times.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: ‘Border Force is currently experiencing a nationwide issue which is impacting passengers being processed through the border.
‘Our teams are supporting Border Force with their contingency plans to help resolve the problem as quickly as possible and are on hand to provide passenger welfare. We apologise for any impact this is having to passenger journeys.’
Manchester Airport also confirmed that the UK Border System is down as part of a nationwide outage.
A spokesman said: ‘We are aware of an issue with UK Border Force’s systems across the country, affecting a significant number of airports.
‘Our Resilience Team and customer services colleagues are supporting passengers while UK Border Force and the Home Office fix the issue.’
A London Gatwick spokesperson said: ‘Some passengers may experience delays at immigration due to a nationwide issue with UK Border Force e-gates.
‘Our staff are working with UK Border Force – who operate passport control including the e-gates – to provide assistance to passengers where necessary.’
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