A DECISION has been taken to downscale ’Operation Transmission’ early and return the A31 between Alresford and Winchester to normal, Hampshire Local Resilience Forum has announced.

With eight of the scheduled 12 weeks of the A31's Brexit lorry park passed, from Thursday, February 18 lorries will no longer need to pull off the motorway network and have papers checked in advance.

It comes as border-ready compliance rates by hauliers using Portsmouth International Port in terms of the required paperwork are now, and have been in recent weeks, “consistently strong”, says the forum.

Compliance now stands at around 90 per cent each day compared with the reasonable worst case scenario that up to 70 per cent of lorries would not be border ready.

Volumes of traffic through Portsmouth International Port are not yet back to ‘normal’ levels, but they have increased and are now far higher than at the start of January.

More than 1,900 lorries have passed through the A31 site and 2,500 lorries through a Tipner site in Portsmouth since the start of January.

Chief fire officer and strategic coordinating group chair for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight LRF, Neil Odin, said: “We look carefully at the facts and every indicator tells us that things are running smoothly enough to allow us to be proactive and make this important decision to downscale our operation ahead of time.

"Of course, there are still risks as volumes of freight are still volatile but there is a balance to strike and we have listened carefully to hauliers, local people and those who represent them.

“We planned for the reasonable worst case scenario that we were presented with and I am so proud of everyone, from those at the port to those who worked at the triage points, the staff in our LRF agencies, and the lorry drivers who continue to work hard to get that paperwork right.

“As we leave the A31 site we feel it is important to leave things in better shape than when we arrived. Part of that is an army of volunteers who will be out picking litter on Friday, February 19.

"I’d like to again thank the local community for their understanding.”

Councillor Rob Humby, deputy leader and executive member for economy, transport and environment at Hampshire County Council, said: “I’d like to thank the Local Resilience Forum for making this plan the success that it was.

"The Government asked the LRF to plan for the possibility of traffic disruption as freight travelled from other parts of the country to the Port of Portsmouth for a short period immediately after the UK left the EU.

"Mitigation measures were put in place, fully funded by the Government, and the plan was continually monitored to ensure it delivered what it intended, which was to ensure minimum disruption to the day to day lives of Hampshire residents.”

Signage on the M3 and other roads will no longer be visible from February 18. Instead lorries will be able to travel straight to Portsmouth International Port from February 18.

The A31 site will be partially-decommissioned in the week commencing February 22, with the barriers removed and traffic returning to using both sides of the A31.

Some of the physical infrastructure on the A31 will remain for a short period as a precaution in case compliance or volumes of traffic radically change.

The other triage site at Tipner, Portsmouth, will remain on standby for now to allow some continued mitigation, not least because volume of goods travelling are still volatile.