FRANCE has ordered a blockade on all travel from Britain stoking fears of a massive breakdown in critical supplies of food and goods for Christmas.

The French closed the border to all freight because of the new mutant super Covid strain.

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There were also rising fears the blockade could disrupt vital supplies of the Pfizer Biotech vaccine to the UK which is made in Belgium.

British supermarkets faced trucking hell after France closed its UK border to shut out the covid strain ripping through London.

Air, sea and Eurotunnel routes between the two nations were shut down by the French with virtually no notice amid rising global panic over the fast-spreading bug.

France’s Healthcare Defence Council ordered the drawbridge pulled up to isolate the UK, days from its Brexit departure from the EU.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been forced to call an emergency Cobra meeting of his top ministers and the military on Monday to try to avoid shortages in the supermarkets and panic buying.

SUPPLY CHAIN FEARS

Ministers have been preparing for months for border chaos from a possible No Deal at the end of the year and will bring forward their “robust” contingency plans.

As UK cases rocketed, our closest neighbours in Europe including Ireland closed their borders.

But the 48 hour delay to imports risk devastating supermarket supply chains adding further festive pain to millions.

Ian Wright of the UK’s Food and Drink Federation    said: “Tonight’s suspension of accompanied freight traffic from the UK to France has the potential to cause serious disruption to UK Christmas fresh food supplies and exports of UK food and drink.

“Continental truckers will not want to travel here if they have a real fear of getting marooned. The Government must very urgently persuade the French government to exempt accompanied freight from its ban.”

An industry source said: “It’s the panic buying we are most worried about. The chains have held up all year but only if people are sensible.”

A Downing Street spokesman said:“The Prime Minister will chair a COBR meeting tomorrow to discuss the situation regarding international travel, in particular the steady flow of freight into and out of the UK.

“Further meetings are happening this evening and tomorrow morning to ensure robust plans are in place.”

The shock move left thousands of air and rail passengers stranded on both sides of the Channel and queuing truckers with no idea when they would be allowed to cross with cargo.

A meeting of the Government’s COBRA committee will be held today in a bid to hold back an expected surge of panic buying.

Lorry queues already stretching seven miles along routes to ports in both countries looked certain to stand still for over the entire Christmas period.

Supermarket shortage fears rose as 9-10,000 lorries-a-day which normally travel in both directions were halted.

Haulage industry insiders warnedthat vital food and goods supplies could begin drying up because truckers will refuse to cross into the UK fearing they will be trapped.

An industry source said: “Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse – disaster on top of disaster – I fear for supermarket supply chains.”

FREIGHT CHAOS

The border shutdown – which must have been sanctioned by French president Emmanuel Macron sparked crisis talks between supermarkets, Number Ten and the French.

A British government insider said: “We are working this through with the French with the utmost urgency.”

Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said the French freight ban presented "difficulties".

He said: “We urge the UK Government and the EU to find a pragmatic solution to this as soon as possible, to prevent disruption for consumers.

"Any prolonged closure of the French border would be a problem as the UK enters the final weeks before the transition ends on 31^st December.”

It comes after Brits were barred from travelling to a string of European countries including Italy, Holland and Belgium – with Germany also virtually certain to order clamps.

The severity of the sudden shutdown was laid bare in a tweet from Eurotunnel.

It announced to passengers: “URGENT: UK-France border closes 23:00 GMT tonight. Last shuttle UK-FR is 21:34 GMT, please check in on time. Access to UK site prohibited from 22:00 GMT.”

A French government spokesman said earlier: “All flows of people from the United Kingdom to France are suspended from midnight tonight, for 48 hours, and for all means of transport”.

Germany – now back in lockdown – also looked certain to stop flights into the UK from today.

It is unclear what would happen to hundreds of France-bound lorries already stuck in tailbacks stretching for seven miles on the M20 in Kent.

France-based Brit Phil Williams tweeted: “Pity the poor sods stuck in trucks on the M20.

“What did they do wrong? And all that stuff stuck in Calais. A few empty shelves in Waitrose methinks.”

Rod McKenzie, Managing Director of Policy & Public Affairs at the Road Haulage Association said: “Brexit stockpiling is one thing, the Christmas rush is another but the absolute hammer blow now is to close the borders for 48 hours.

“That is a serious disruption to the all important supply chain.”

Frustrated truckers also took to Twitter to vent their anger about the debacle.

One wrote: “I’ve got two trucks in Dover, one was put on the boat to Calais, the other has been spun around and told to go home. Some excellent consistency there.”

Lochfyne Langoustines frantically tweeted their local MP, saying: “Oh my god, this is a disaster, Vivier trucks loaded with hundreds of thousands of pounds heading to Dover right now.

“What the hell are we meant to do?”

The source said Berlin will “make it official in the coming hours”, and suggested the same policy could be adopted across the entire 27-member European Union.

An initial ban would last until Britain leaves the EU on January 1, but the source added Berlin is already “working on measures” to extend the flight ban beyond that date.

It comes after a German government official earlier told the DPA news agency restrictions on flights were a “serious option”.

Ireland has also announced similar measures banning flights from the UK for the first time in history.

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