No Deal Brexit could leave thousands of Kent pupils stranded with teachers working as 'carers' if gridlocked roads stop parents picking them up

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Kent schoolteachers have been told they may have to adopt a 'carer role' and even cancel classes if either parents or teachers are unable to get into schools as a result of gridlock caused by a No Deal Brexit.

A council briefing document sent to schools warned educators they may have to care for 'stranded' schoolchildren.

It comes as news emerged the Army has opened a No Deal command post inside the secret Pindar nuclear bunker under Whitehall, as the emergency Cobra committee took over the No Deal preparations yesterday amid plans to activate 'Operation Yellowhammer' on Monday.

Yellowhammer is the civil contingencies wing of No Deal and involves putting 3,500 troops on standby, booking space on emergency ferries for NHS drugs and preparing for miles of lorry queues out of Dover.

Lines of traffic queue to enter the port of Dover on the south coast of England on July 24, 2016

In the event of a no deal Brexit causing traffic chaos: 1700 HGVs can park at the port of Dover; DfT-owned Manston Airport has been expanded to take 6,000 lorries; 2,000 will park along the M20 (a reduction from 4,000 during Operation Stack in 2015) and the M26 has also been prepared for use - it could take about a quarter as many HGVs as the M20

Kent schools have been advised by the local authority to check on food supplies and warned that public transport and school coaches could be affected if there is 'panic buying' of fuel, according to an FAQ briefing sent to schools earlier this month. 

The schools have been warned they may have to consider looking after 'stranded' children if parents are caught in gridlock.

Any traffic chaos caused by a No Deal Brexit - which will dramatically increase the amount of time lorries have to spend at customs in Dover which is used by 11,000 HGVs a day - is expected to be worst in Kent.

Last year MailOnline revealed the government is making plans for more than 10,000 HGV to be stacked up in Kent - at Dover and MArston Airport, and on the lanes of the M20 motorway as well as the M26.

 The seven-page note advises: 'During periods of staff shortage due to an emergency, before headteachers decide to close, they should consider two alternative courses of action.

'First, consider suspending normal teaching and instead adopt a 'carer' role with classes being supervised.'

Alternatively, schools are advised to merge year groups if there are not enough teachers on the premises to manage them separately.

Kent County Council says that to combine year groups is preferable to closing a school, advising headteachers they will have to consider the impact of forcing parents to leave work. 

Officials pointed out to teachers that if a primary school closes for the day, 'it might potentially result in several hundred working parents having to leave their place of work to look after their child.'

The document adds: 'These parents may be in an occupation that provides a vital service to the community, (eg nurses, carers, bus and lorry drivers, social workers or even teachers).'

The council also suggests that teachers keep children indoors with all 'windows, doors and trickle vents' closed in the event of congestion affecting air quality.

If transport is delayed or cancelled and pupils are left waiting in schools, teachers are advised they may have to abandon their own after-school plans and 'remain on site to care for stranded children'. They have also been told there could be disruption to supplies of food and fuel if the amount coming into the country is not enough to match demand.

At the peak of industrial action in Calais in 2015, Operation Stack saw more than 4,500 lorries parked along the M20 motorway.

Ian Watts, Area Education Officer at Kent County Council, said: 'As a local authority, we have a duty to the families of Kent to ensure schools and other education settings do all they can to ensure continuity of provision, even in times of emergency or when circumstances change to an extent that the ability to maintain "normal" provision is greatly reduced.

'At this stage we cannot easily predict the eventual impact of the UK exiting the European Union, but it would be remiss to assume no impact.

'KCC does acknowledge that there may be no significant disruption and has been clear with schools of this possibility when issuing the guidance with the following accompanying note.'

He went on: 'It is always the case in emergency planning that the worst case scenario should be planned for.

'KCC is not saying this WILL happen, but is simply trying to provide schools with greater awareness of issues that may arise so that they can be as prepared as possible.' 

What is Operation Stack and its Brexit successor Operation Brock?

In the past, the words Operation Stack have usually appeared in the news when industrial action or civil unrest at Calais have led to cross-Channel delays.

The Dover Straight handles more than 10,000 lorries each day, so if normal service is disrupted, tailbacks develop fast and far.

Highways England, in conjunction with Kent Police, allows long stretches of the M20 to be closed to normal traffic and used as a lorry park.

Operation Stack begins at Dover but might in future extend north as far as Maidstone or even Sevenoaks

Initially the southernmost stretch of the motorway is closed - a four mile southbound stretch near Folkestone.  If delays become worse additional sections of the motorway extending further north are also closed.

Traffic is diverted, mainly to the A20 which follows a similar route but is only a single-carriageway route with many roundabouts, so at busy times it becomes severely congested.

Manston Airport, a closed commercial airport between Margate and Ramsgate, has been purchased by the DfT to use an additional temporary lorry park when necessary, and has capacity for 4000 HGVs. 

Operation Brock is the DfT's name for its plan to handle queues of thousands of trucks and HGVs if goods cannot move as smoothly through ports post-Brexit as it does now. 

Brock builds on Operation Stack with a significant stretch of M20 between Maidstone and Ashford also in line to be turned into a lorry park if needs be.

All four southbound lanes would be closed, with a contraflow splitting the direction of non-HGV traffic on the other side of the central reservation.

In mid October 2018 it emerged the government is also preparing to use the 10-mile M26 motorway as further overspill. This would only be necessary after 10,000 lorries were already stationary at Dover, Manston and the M20.