[ritchiebaby]

Thanks for your replies, jim and 0762 - jim for providing the information I wanted and 0762 for going off on another rant that didn't address my point.

I fully appreciate that life is different now, but when I've been in African and Middle Eastern countries in the past, I've had my passport inspected and stamped without any hassle. Queues at airports and ferry terminals are and have always been a part of life, but as usual if anything happens in the SE of England, it gets blown out of all proportion while the rest of the country gets on with it.