Italian lorry driver raging after being clamped and fined in UK because of EU regulations

An Italian lorry driver was left furious after he was fined and his vehicle clamped because he could not find a suitable place to park during a 55-hour border nightmare.

Atonio Soprano was stopped in Kent while trying to bring plants into the country from Italy, and ended up being held at a government-run facility for more than two days.

During this time he was not offered anything to eat. He was instead instructed to walk over a mile to the nearest McDonald's, which resulted in a £185 fine and his vehicle being clamped as he struggled to find a place to park in the early hours of the morning.

EU regulations limit the amount of time a HGV driver can go without a break and he could not spend the night at Sevington, so Soprano had no choice but to seek refuge in the McDonald's car park as the nearest lorry park was already full.

The ordeal began when he was ordered to make the 22-mile drive from Dover to the Sevington border post in Ashford, Kent for inspection, where he was immediately left in a waiting area without his keys.

He speaks no English and said no one tried to explain what was going on. He told The Guardian: "They told me to go and eat at a McDonald’s, which was two kilometers away. In the end I found a supermarket but we had no services apart from a toilet.

"I understand they need to do the controls but this behaviour is not normal, it was a mess. I don’t know why we had to wait for so long. I have to go to England for work, I have no choice, but this was not normal."

Soprano was held as officials were suspicious about 10 Prunus lusitanica plants that could be carrying harmful pests. He arrived at 6:30pm on May 26, but concerns were not raised for hours, which officials put down to health and safety concerns over the plants.

While at Sevington, he had to take an 11-hour rest break, known as a tachi break, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs blamed for the delay in the initial inspection of his lorry.

Just after 1am on May 29, some 55 hours after Soprano arrived, officials eventually signed off the plants and allowed the lorry to be released. This left the driver searching for a place to sleep, which eventually saw him resort to the McDonald's car park.

This comes just weeks after it was revealed that some lorry drivers face 20-hour waits at Sevington border control post due to an IT outage that caused staggering delays for perishable items coming into the country.

There have also been repeated warnings from horticultural trade bodies that checking plant products at the border is impractical and border staff are struggling to load and unload lorries.

Vicenzo Marini, the chief executive of Marini, who employs Soprano, called the incident "surreal", adding that post-Brexit checks and custom requirements have made sending goods to the UK more problematic.