Lucy Morton

Passengers flying into The UK are facing long delays at passport controls as e-gates across The country have gone down.

The issue is affecting people arriving at UK airports, The Home Office said, after The System went down Last Night .

One passenger at Gatwick said it was an " utter joke" while another at Heathrow spoke of The " mother of all queues".

Lucy Morton , from The Immigration Services Union, warned that queues would build " very, very quickly".

" You end up putting all The Passengers through physically-manned officer desks, " she told The Bbc 's Radio 4 .

" Staff can't take The Breaks that they should be taking. . The whole thing will snowball very quickly. "

She Said between 60-80% of travelling passengers will go through e-gates, depending on The Airport .

" There's no impact on National Security , " She Said , explaining that all arrivals will still be fully checked.

" But it will build queues and that in itself builds its own set of problems. People becomes frustrated, they take it out on The staff. All of this will cascade during The Day . "

All airports across The country that use The Gates are affected, meaning people flying in are having to queue to get their passports checked manually.

The e-gate system speeds up passport control by allowing some passengers to scan their own passports. The System uses Facial Recognition to verify a traveller's identity and captures an image of The Traveller as they pass through The gate.

A Home Office spokesperson said they were aware of a " nationwide border system issue affecting arrivals into The UK".

" We Are working to resolve The issue as soon as possible and are liaising with port operators and airlines to minimise disruption for travellers, " they said.

There have also been IT issues at The Port of Dover for people trying to leave The UK.

The French system to check passports failed earlier This Morning .

It has now been fixed, but will take time to clear The backlog of cars and lorries, on what was already expected to be a busy weekend, with The Bank Holiday coinciding with The half-term break.

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Source of news: bbc.com