DETAILED plans for a lorry park capable of checking 235 vehicles a day – designed to prevent border chaos following Brexit – have been published.

It emerged last year that a lorry park was to open on the A31 between Winchester and Alresford to hold HGVs in case of delays at Portsmouth International Port.

Nearby residents say that they have had no communication from civic chiefs about the plan which is causing “stress and anxiety”.

Information has now surfaced on how the facility will work once the UK leaves the EU.

From December 29 the lorry park will be a “short stay triage point” capable of checking up to 235 lorries to ensure all EU-bound freight has the correct ‘border-ready’ paperwork in place.

Signs along the M25 will ask drivers to travel along the M3 to get there.

A 5km stretch of the eastbound carriageway of the A31 will run as a contraflow to take both east and westbound traffic, while the westbound carriageway will be used to check freight.

The work has been carried out as part of the multi-agency Operation Transmission to reduce the risk of severe traffic delays at Portsmouth International Port, and on surrounding roads. The speed limit will be reduced to 30mph for all traffic.

Neil Odin, chair of the Local Resilience Forum, said: “The projections shared with us clearly show that, if we do nothing, the changes to checks at the border would cause a traffic queue very quickly on the M275 and the surrounding area. This would be bad news for many communities, businesses and road users across Hampshire.

“Our plans include short stay triage points at carefully chosen locations and early engagement with hauliers to help them be border ready, and have benefitted greatly from the input of our local government experts. There will still be some impact but our plans are necessary and designed to reduce the risk as much as possible.”

Preparatory engineering work on the A31 was completed in 2019, which included the installation of two hardened central reserve crossovers near the Ladycroft and Percy Hobbs roundabouts.

These crossovers are new short sections of carriageway that have been constructed across the central grass verge to allow traffic to move safely from the westbound lane to the eastbound lane when a full contraflow is in place.

The crossovers, whilst initially being utilised for the Operation Transmission plan, will also be useful for future traffic management to facilitate highway maintenance operations on this stretch of the A31, avoiding the need for lengthy and disruptive road closures.

But the plan as sparked criticism from some living nearby, including residents off the A31.

In a letter to the Local Resilience Forum, resident Kristina Fearnley, said: “We at Orr’s Meadow on the Alresford Road will be directly and negatively affected by the HGV park. A road which has many businesses and private households along its length.

“Here at Orr’s Meadow, a group of eight households on the A31, who will be subjected to regular noise, light and litter pollution. These plans and their lack of clarity and concern for local residents are causing much stress and anxiety. We have had, as usual, no direct contact about this stage of the plan from either the county council, the resilience forum, or Hampshire Highways.”