more than 1500 lorry drivers are still stuck in kent, over fears the new strain of coronavirus might spread to the continent. 650 lorries are backed up on the m20, with another 873 in a lorry park. mandatory testing of drivers could allow the border to reopen. testing of some sort is part of the discussions that the transport secretary is having with his counterpart in france right now. road hauliers say frustrated drivers are being offered little refreshment, and toilet facilites are difficult. it's terrible. as i said, if i knew one day before that... hey, guys, i don't know, europe, uk, the borderwill close in one day, i would never have come here. do you think you'll get home for christmas? i don't know.

i hope but i don't think so. there are hopes the border with france might reopen by the end of the day. also this lunchtime... a warning the new mutation of covid—i9, is now "everywhere" and that more areas may need to have tier 4 restrictions. i actually think the whole country needs to be in tier 4 because we need to get ahead of it and we're not ahead of it. right now, we're behind it. named — jesse kempson is the murderer of british backpacker grace millane in new zealand, and he's now been convicted of two more sex attacks on other women. retailers complain what they call the government's stop—start covid rules are costing them £2 billion a week this christmas season. bell rings, applause and, nice to be appreciated — the carers for whom a weekly round of applause, helped them cope with the pressures of the pandemic. and coming up in sport on bbc news: anthonyjoshua tells us he's going

to use his own money to help keep amateur boxing alive in the uk during the pandemic. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the authorities in calais say they're hoping they can restart transport links across the channel by the end of the day, relieving the misery of more than 1500 lorry drivers still stuck in kent. the french border was closed on sunday for 48 hours because of fears of the spread of the new variant of covid—i9 to the continent. the home secretary, priti patel, says 650 lorries are backed up on the m20, with another 873 in a lorry park, and the road

haulage association says drivers have been offered one cereal bar and toilet facilites are difficult. the french and british negotiations are focused on the possibility drivers will have to undergo regular coronavirus testing. here's theo leggett. seemingly endless queues of parked up lorries stretching for miles along the m20 this morning. there's simply nowhere for them to go. the french border remains closed, the eurotunnel terminal is shut and deserted and in dover, some traffic was coming in on ferries from france but nothing was going the other way. hundreds of trucks now sit in this giant lorry park, in what used to be manston airport, while others are waiting wherever they can find space. this polish driver was among hundreds waiting for news. it's a disasterfor me, you know? it's the first time i'm here in the uk and, like a driver, and it's...

it's terrible. as i said, if i knew one day before that... hey, guys, idon't know, europe, uk, border will close in one day — i would never have come here. do you think you'll get home for christmas? i don't know. i hope but i don't think so. it's not clear precisely how many lorries are now parked up around kent. concerns are growing about the welfare of the stranded drivers, forced to spend days confined to their cabs, farfrom home. the welfare of these drivers should be top of our minds at the moment. we should be treating them much better than we are because they are essential workers that keep our supermarkets stacked, keep our manufacturing sector working. but also, get our british goods to market around the world, earning us pounds and getting us jobs here at home, in britain. the government says it is in talks with france to find a way of unblocking the border

and developments are likely later today. the border was closed because of french concerns about a new and highly infectious variant of the coronavirus. any solution, the government says, is likely to involve testing the drivers. testing of some sort is part of the discussions that the transport secretary is having with his counterpart in france right now. getting those tests up and running, you know, can happen relatively quickly but in terms of the details of that, that is something that both the transport secretary and his counterpart will be discussing right now. so i don't want to speculate in terms of the nature of the tests and how soon that could be up and running. what form those tests could take, though, is still not clear. the uk is known to favour so—called lateral flow tests, which are for rapid results. france prefers a lab—based test, which is slower but seen as more reliable. yet authorities in calais have made it clear they want an agreement quickly. i am very sad and i hope — i hope —

that really in the next... since yesterday morning when i heard, in interviews, i said it's necessary if that is a condition for the hauliers to come back to france, please start as soon as possible the tests. haulage firms agree a solution needs to be found soon or all of these lorries will be left on the road to nowhere. theo leggett, bbc news. simonjones is in doverfor us. simon, we can see the vehicles piled up simon, we can see the vehicles piled up behind you there. drivers getting more and more fed up and angry and frustrated. yes, frustration is the word of the day. the official figures from the government tell us that 650 lorries earlier today were stacked up on the m20 motorway, 873 have been taken to the manston

airport site. drive around over and you see this on slip roads, lorries parked up. on the other side is the road that leads to the port. you have va ns road that leads to the port. you have vans parked up there, lorries turning up trying to get into the port. the port is there, there is a sign saying french border closed and that tells the story of the day. the hauliers, theyjust that tells the story of the day. the hauliers, they just want a that tells the story of the day. the hauliers, theyjust want a bit of certainty. a lot of them have been coming up to me and saying, what is happening, when are we going to be able to travel? the answer is we simply don't know at the moment and evenif simply don't know at the moment and even if the border is reopened tonight, that talk of tests, the results could take days to come through, meaning many hauliers could end up missing christmas, having to sleep in their cabs. 0ne end up missing christmas, having to sleep in their cabs. one of them said to me, i have a seven—year—old daughter, i phoned herand said to me, i have a seven—year—old daughter, i phoned her and she says when you coming home? i tried to say to her i can't because of the border and she doesn't understand what that means. a sign of the human stories here although many locals living in dover had sympathy but say they are fed up with the street here being

clogged up. simon, thank you. simon jones in dover. so, when might the fench re—open the border? 0ur europe correspondent, gavin lee is in brussels. gavin, any white smoke coming out where you are? i don't think we are going to have any news on french connection is being opened today. i think the 48—hour period will remain blocked. french officials here are telling me they are trying to work out a way so they have reassurance, with certainty, in the words of the deputy europe minister, that there are negative covid tests produced and provided by lorry drivers before they arrive and they want it in a tiered system. freight and vital first, then medical workers. that is what they want and it depends, pretty patel on the other side of the channel saying she is confident that can be sorted out but we wait for more news. elsewhere in europe, you have every single country now apart from greece and cyprus that

are stopping uk travellers entering their countries. in greece and cyprus, they are asking for negative covid tests and a period of quarantine for up to ten days as well. today we expect a statement from the european commission, the idea was to coordinate one single rule across europe to deal with uk travel. we are told that won't happen now, it will be countries dealing with their own individual policies. we are expecting they will coordinate on trying to repatriate with countries that have their nationals in the uk. it's also worth saying, we have hailed from belgium and german virologists today who say they believe they will see more and more cases elsewhere in europe pretty soon. gavin, thank you, gavin lee in brussels. the uk's chief scientific adviser is warning the new variant is now "everywhere" and that more areas may need to enter tier 4. sir patrick vallance says lockdown measures "need to be increased in some places, in due course, not reduced". sophie hutchinson reports. just some of the 17 million people

in england currently living under the toughest restrictions in tier 4. brought in because of concerns about a rapid increase in cases. but some scientists are insisting that the measures don't go far enough, and no action is urgently needed. i actually think the whole country needs to be in tier 4, because we have to get ahead of it, and we are not ahead of it right now, we are behind it, and hospital admissions are, like, shooting up in the south, and not yet in the north, and we just don't want to see it happen everywhere. and if we shut down now, it should stop that new variant becoming dominant in those areas as well, and that's really what we have to try to do. the government has defended its response, insisting it has not lost control of the virus. the government is not behind the curve. the government has been very clear from day one in terms of the protective measures that we have been undertaking and put in place. you have seen regulations,

you have seen changes to the law. week after week, basically, to protect the british public. but many have not been protected. just a few days ago, more than 1800 people were admitted to hospital with covid—19. figures like that haven't been seen since just after the peak in april. the government says the rise is due, in part, to a new, more infectious variant of the virus. the new variant is spread around the country, it is localised in some places, but we know that there are cases everywhere. so, it is not as though we can stop this getting into other places. there is some there already. whilst much is still unknown about the new variant, it is the reason most of europe has halted travel with the uk. the government says talks are under way about coronavirus tests for lorry drivers waiting to cross the channel, but concerns have been raised about the accuracy of the rapid tests, which could result in 15 minutes. —— which give results in 15 minutes.

the key thing to realise is that this test is an imperfect test. everyone knows that. and its imperfections will map out in different ways in different settings. it is absolutely critical that it is tested before it is put into use. rapid testing is taking place, though, in many parts of england, in an attempt to prevent the virus spreading, but it is unlikely to be enough. government scientists have warned that restrictions will probably tighten in some areas after christmas. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. northern ireland's devolved government says all but essential travel to great britain and the irish republic should be avoided if possible. there was talk of the possibility of a travel ban but that possibility was thrown out. people arriving in northern ireland from britain are also being asked to isolate for ten days. retailers have warned of future shortages of some foods unless the border problems are resolved. industry leaders say there are sufficient supplies to last through christmas, but that some fresh produce will run out unless the border

is unblocked today. charlotte wright reports. with just days to go until christmas, staff are working flat out to keep our supermarkets shelves stocked. this morning, retailers and suppliers have issued a message of reassurance. despite france's ban on freight crossing the channel, there will be no shortages of supply for christmas day. we have pre—empted a lot of this because of the brexit situation, so we started bringing produce in a lot earlier as well. so, we were having products just to cover ourselves for the start of the new year, but a lot of the stuff now is being brought in through other ports, through rotterdam, so missing out on dover and calais and going round about and coming a different way into the different markets. but behind—the—scenes, there are concerns that disruption at dover could mean challenges for our fresh food stocks come the new year. with fears that continental truckers may not want to travel here for fear of being marooned. this salad processing plant

in preston handles produce from spain and italy. we are bringing in each week about a0 trucks so, if you imagine a two day hold up, that's going to come out of those trucks, and it takes quite a few days to build that gap back—up. because all of this produce has a very short shelf life. so the maximum, once that's here, we can hold it for a couple of days, then we put a seven day shelf life on it, so it is a very short time, so any hold—up, impinges on the end life of the product. and of course it is not just affecting imports. businesses who export their goods from the uk are already noticing the impact. the food that's going out of the country in the direction of mainland europe is, as you say, sitting there and going off. and particularly for sectors like fresh seafood, langoustines, salmon and so on, they have a very finite shelf life, and they will be in big trouble if they are not able to move today at the latest.

the government says the uk has a highly resilient food supply chain. supermarkets are well prepared, and the industry has been clear that there is enough stock. charlotte wright, bbc news. downing street is refusing to confirm parts borisjohnson and the european commission president spoke on the phone last night to discuss progress in talks on a post brexit trade deal. number 10 sources have denied claims that there has been a breakthrough on fishing rights which remain the key sticking point. there are now just remain the key sticking point. there are nowjust nine days to go before the brexit transition period ends. more than 1500 lorry drivers are now stuck in kent over fears that the new coronavirus could spread to the

content. this is part of the discussion is the transport secretary is having with his counterpart in france right now. getting those tests up and running can happen relatively quickly but in terms of the details of that, that is something that both the transport secretary and his counterpart will be discussing, right now. coming up in sport on bbc news, more on the latest figures released by the rfu showing one in five professional rugby union players in england suffered concussion during the 18/19 season. it's been a dreadful year for british retailers, with the misery capped by non essential shopping this christmas cut short, due to coronavirus restrictions affecting large parts of england. the industry group, the british retail consortium, says that while the government has difficult decisions to make, "stop start" covid rules are costing retailers £2 billion a week this festive season. emma simpson has returned

to st albans to hear from shopkeepers there about what plans they are making now. summer in st albans, the first lockdown. a city full of independent businesses, worried about the road ahead. they are even more anxious now. for sarah and david, they should be some of their busiest days of the year with last—minute jewelry shopping. this latest closure will cost them dear. it is tens of thousands. it is a very large number for small businesses. massive. it is not even just that. we committed to stock way back in august for sale, now. if you can't sell it now, are people going to want to buy christmas presents injanuary? i don't think so. some of you is a long time ago, now. this is the third time businesses here have had to close, and a lot of them are now mentally and financially at the end of their tether. i'm feeling really

sad. emotions on saturday were so high, there were tears in here. sally runs a beauty salon, she could have done with more notice to squeeze in more appointments before shutting shop. terrified, to be honest, we have the next rent quarter due on christmas day, we have had the bill for that, we've had the vat quarter due early january, and we weathered the last economic crisis, we did that because we had a vat cut, and that is what i am calling on for today, the chancellor to look at our industry, personal care, get us in line with every other industry that has a vat cut. what can you do? we are all in the same boat. mike owns the cafe round the corner. he has stayed up in doing takeaways, but with shops shut the trade has disappeared. in doing takeaways, but with shops shut the trade has disappearedm is the uncertainty, the staff looking to for customers desperate to come back, and financially, if we don't have the income that we need, i honestly don't know how long we

can hold out for. for now, it is about keeping going as best they can. traders who are also asking for more support to weather the storm, until there are better times ahead. emma simpson, bbc news, st albans. the man who murdered the british backpacker grace millane in new zealand has been convicted of sex attacks on two more women. jesse shane kempson can now be named after a court ruled his identity should no longer be suppressed. the 28—year old was jailed for life in february, for killing grace millane on the eve of her 22nd birthday. phil mercer reports. jesse kempson has now been revealed as a serial sexual predator. it can now be reported that, before grace millane was killed, he'd raped another british woman in new zealand and terrorised a former girlfriend. he was found guilty in both cases. his identity was kept secret after his conviction for ms millane's murder, so that those subsequent trials wouldn't be jeopardised.

kempson is serving a minimum sentence of 17 years for killing the backpacker from whitford in essex. they met two years ago on the dating app, tinder. security cameras showed them in the centre of auckland visiting bars and restaurants. her family said grace was their sunshine and would be missed forever. she appeared to be comfortable in kempson's company. when she leaves the lift to go with him to his apartment, it's the last time she is seen alive. the british tourist went missing on the eve of her 22nd birthday. her body was found in a suitcase in a shallow grave outside auckland. her family said the suppression of kempson's identity allowed people to remember grace as a young, vibrant girl, who set out to see the world, instead of drawing attention to the man who took her life. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney.

president donald trump came to power promising to build a "big beautiful wall" along the us southern border with mexico and he told undocumented people living in the us to be afraid. as his presidency now comes to an end, the wall remains under construction, but federal enforcement teams continue to arrest undocumented immigrants who've lived in the country peacefully for decades. many supporters of migrant rights are now counting the days to joe biden's inauguration on january 20th. 0ur correspondent sophie long examines what change can be expected. we were in san diego, california, ice agents just pulled over a worker on his way to work. immigration activists live—stream, record and document an attempted arrest. the safety issue is ice — they are terrorising our people, they are separating families.

they believe ice, immigration and customs enforcement, operate unlawfully and consider this attempted kidnapping. they are in violation of state law right now. even the president is trying to intimidate people here. they want these operations, which often remove parents from children, to stop. they want ice to be abolished. they are not hopeful that joe biden will deliver. if you take the last administration where he served as vice president, it was the administration that most deported migrant families, who separated, created the detention centres on the border, privatised the detention of migrants, so, we don't have many hopes. after a0 minutes the ice agents and police leave. without making an arrest, but not without reinforcing the deep felt fear, here. there were no activist president the day that this couple we re president the day that this couple were arrested and detained for months. theirfour were arrested and detained for months. their four children left to fend for themselves. to see my mum

handcuffed, not being able to see my dad, because of that, it was an overwhelming feeling that we are alone. it was my worst nightmare came to be. three years on, they still don't know if their parents will be deported. what do you hope will be deported. what do you hope will happen now? i hope that people will happen now? i hope that people will be able to have more empathy and will be more compassionate, that there will be easier path to citizenship instead of confusion, not knowing what will happen. there is hope here and in neighbourhoods along the border, that the end of the donald trump presidency will mark a turning point. the dramatic difference is that this level of fear has been lifted from the immigrant community, and that is profound, for those of us working in the community, that has been a real terrorfor the community, that has been a real terror for folks, every day. the community, that has been a real terrorforfolks, every day. so much damage has been done, but there is

also a reality check, we know that this is going to take time. halfway through donald trump's presidency we filmed as a young mother and her daughter walked around the end of the borderfence. daughter walked around the end of the border fence. you daughter walked around the end of the borderfence. you couldn't do that here now. where there was no barrier, there are now two, and construction continues. joe biden says he will put a stop to that. at the top you have a five foot anticline plate. those who police the border say that the war has made it more difficult to cross. if you're going to push yourself on an 18-30 you're going to push yourself on an 18—30 football, the whole structure is inherently dangerous, you risk falling, which does happen, we are dealing with compound fractures, fractured vertebrae and even deaths, u nfortu nately. fractured vertebrae and even deaths, unfortunately. whether you are crossing to make illegal entry or claim asylum, with a visa, that is the place, that is the front door of

our country, the port of entry. for those and the families of those who survive and made it across the border in the years gone by, the reduction in the fear they feel when donald trump leaves office may be instantaneous, mending a dysfunctional immigration system in a deeply divided country, will not. sophie long, bbc news, on the us— mexico border. government borrowing soared by 31.6 billion last month, due to continued support for the economy, during the coronavirus pandemic. it's the highest total for the month of november since records began and the third highest for any month. 0ur economics editor faisal islam joins us. how much of a surprise or a shock are the figures? they are about expectations for rare these numbers would come in but have enclosed a little bit in october because the economy had started to open up, right now we see the results of the

extra restrictions in november, we see also the restrictions likely to increase, in the coming weeks and months, and so i think that you see a£3 months, and so i think that you see a £3 billion fall in tax revenues versus november a year ago, we see 25 billion of extra spending versus november a year ago, and that is leading to a significantly bigger deficit. in terms of that borrowing, that extra spending above taxation, we have now, over the course of april through to november, a record of £240 april through to november, a record of £2110 billion in borrowing, since records began in 1993, and concern where the economy about goes, in the likelihood of extra restrictions and also concerns about what is going on in terms of our trade. faisal islam, our economics editor, thank you.

now as large parts of the country during the lockdown, our correspondent jane mccubbin has during the lockdown, our correspondentjane mccubbin has been speaking to nhs staff and the public about what clap for carers and meant for them. it was dark. i didn't know if anybody else would be out. i got a message, "if you can, stand at the doors of your department and just try and listen." 8pm, thursday march 26th, a date for a nation in isolation. applause this patter, this pitter—patter, the noise! and then i understood what it was. it was people clapping.

and we were moved. this has been a real hard week for everybody, but what we've just... i've just taken the team outside to listen. that is absolutely. ..um. .. i haven't got... i don't think there's any words for that but to everybody, thank you. the thanks was heartfelt. bell rings and for some, the thanks was for their very lives. what was going through your head at that moment? i was thinking, i was reliving some of the moments from those 11 days. some of the nhs staff, who i can never thank enough because they saved my life. bell rings even though i was weak as a kitten

and my bell is a very heavy one, i willingly, willingly stood outside in my dressing gown straight out of my hospital bed almost and raised my arm over and over again. i think the next morning, one arm was three inches longer than the other! applause but this gratitude was for more than just the nhs. this was thanks for those keeping the wards open, the country moving, thanks for all those who cared. and they well deserved it, too. because what would we do without their care? in lockdown one, ken's carers had surprised him with this gift. 0h! separated from his family, bereaved from his wife ada, this was the comfort he'd desperately needed then and now. i thought that might be a bit better than your photograph. oh, come here! for ten weeks, we clapped

for the countless acts of kindness. your priceless gift of my life, i say thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you. applause public appreciation, so let's —— so richly deserve. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. 0ur weather watchers painted a picture of a near—perfect winter day. the grey skies further south, with more on the way of rain during the next 36 hours. let's show you the next 36 hours. let's show you the rainfall accumulation charts, where rainfall totals will be totting up over the next few days, mainly for england and wales, the

dark