As many as 500 Irish hauliers could be caught in major delays and tailbacks in Europe as a result of the French lorry drivers' strike yesterday, which threatened to continue today. The French haulage unions are protesting about fuel prices and working hours.
The president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Mr Jerry McMahon, said last night the French action was causing major delays.
Many hauliers had transferred to Belgium in an effort to avoid the disruption, but they were involved in delays of 12 to 14 hours.
"On any weekend there would be 500 or 600 hauliers going out of Ireland and they would come back during the week. Most would have been aware of the action, but we were told it would be only 24 hours and now it seems it could go into a second day," Mr McMahon said.
Most caught in delays would be hauliers trying to get back. He said he had one haulier telephoning who was stuck in Belgium and was trying to get to Britain.
"He had already been delayed for 12 hours," Mr McMahon said.
If the action continued it could make some hauliers late on deliveries and affect business, particularly if they were carrying fresh produce, he said. PA adds: British haulage industry leaders yesterday accused French truckers of using "bullyboy tactics" as British lorry drivers remained trapped by blockades in icy border towns.
But the dispute, which could last indefinitely, did not affect cross-Channel ferry and Channel Tunnel passengers.
They were able to travel freely between Dover and Folkestone and the French port of Calais.
British truckers were not so lucky. Many had travelled early to beat the strike but drivers arrived at border towns to find their journeys halted as early as midnight on Sunday. Some had to sleep in their cabs in freezing conditions as huge queues built up on France's borders.
In Britain, haulage leaders pressed the government to help end the dispute.
"These are bully-boy tactics and the French are victimising the British transport industry for their own political aims," said Mr Geoff Dossetter, head of external affairs at the Freight Transport Association.
He added: "UK transport is being penalised in a dispute in which it is not involved. French strikers should be seeking to resolve these disputes internally with the French government - not placing inconvenience and costs on UK truck operators."
The trapped Britons were among an estimated 2,000 lorry drivers affected by the blockade. In the Alps, truckers blocked the Frejus tunnel linking France and Italy.
About 200 trucks filtered traffic at the Franco-Belgian frontier of Rekkem. At the border with Spain in the town of Biriatou, protesters slowed traffic in both directions.
The strikes also affected northern port cities such as Le Havre and the border with Germany near Strasbourg.