UK airports latest: ‘Queues only getting bigger’ after London and Manchester confirm nationwide border system issue

One person who arrived at Heathrow Airport said it was “pandemonium” when they got to passport control in Terminal 3.

Sam Morter, 32, said all of the e-gates had blank screens.

Mr Morter, who had arrived from Sri Lanka, told the Press Association: “There was a lot of Border Force officials running and scrambling around. Four or five went to man the posts and start processing the UK passports manually.

“But at the same time, hundreds of passengers started to flood into passport control, so it all of a sudden became chaotic and they couldn’t cope with the number of the people coming in.”

Mr Morter said passengers were frustrated with their situation but also felt for those who had recently landed from long-haul flights.

“A lot of disgruntled, angry and frustrated passengers and people coming off of long-haul flights very tired, so that didn’t help. Not great scenes,” he said.

He added passengers “weren’t given any information” and airport staff handed cans of water to those waiting in line.

“Staff were giving out cans of water because they knew people were going to be there a long time. I was there for an hour-and-a-half. I was towards the front of the queue, there were hundreds behind me that were waiting a lot longer.”