United Kingdom’s border force system experienced a nationwide glitch on Tuesday, causing long queues at airports.
Gatekeepers News reports that Heathrow, Edinburgh, and Manchester airports were particularly affected, with thousands of passengers waiting for their passports to be checked.
Heathrow confirmed that the issue was impacting passengers being processed through the border and apologized for the inconvenience.
The airport’s teams were working with the border forces to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
This comes after a four-day strike held by border force workers at Heathrow last week, who were protesting against plans to introduce new rosters that would force around 250 of them out of their jobs at passport control.
“We are aware of a technical issue affecting e-Gates across the country,” a home office spokesperson said.
“We are working closely with Border Force and affected airports to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologise to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.”
