HAMPSHIRE civic chiefs have postponed their no-deal Brexit traffic plan after the UK was granted an extension.

A checkpoint and lorry park was set to be opened yesterday on the A31 between Winchester and Alresford to hold HGVs in case of delays at Portsmouth International Port.

The Hampshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF) has been preparing for a worst case scenario in the event of a no deal.

With the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, and the latest national planning assumptions suggesting that up to 70 per cent of HGVs would not be ‘border ready’ on day one of a no-deal, the contingency arrangements were set in place over the weekend.

Operation Transmission is a multi-agency plan developed to mitigate the potential disruption with the creation of checkpoints on the approach to Portsmouth to prevent the arrival of non-border ready vehicles.

Signage will direct HGVs to the most appropriate checkpoint according to their direction of approach to Portsmouth, with the main checkpoint and holding facility on the A31 between Winchester and Alresford. A contraflow would have been in operation to keep the A31 open in both directions.