Southeastern and Network Rail staff worked through Christmas Eve to deliver food to lorry drivers stuck in Kent (with high-res photography)

Southeastern and Network Rail colleagues have been delivering food to lorry drivers who are stuck in Operation Brock on the M20.

Seven trains with crates of food have left in the past 24 hours, with Southeastern and Network Rail staff working until late into Christmas Eve to fill more crates with much-needed supplies. 

An estimated 6,000 lorry drivers are currently stuck trying to leave the UK, with roughly 2,000 waiting on the Kent motorway.

Southeastern workers took the initiative when they recognised that rail station shops would have excess food stock. Working with Network Rail, they have collected food donations from London station outlets including Leon, Boots, Pret A Manger, Starbucks and M&S. 

They have filled crates with donated food and put them onto trains from London St Pancras, Charing Cross and London Bridge stations. The crates are being picked up at Ashford International railway station in Kent, which the Salvation Army is then distributing to the hungry lorry drivers.

Macknade Kent Foodhall, based in the Kent town of Faversham, have also donated parcels of food to the enterprise.

David Statham, Managing Director of Southeastern Railway, said: "We saw that lorry drivers in Kent were in a difficult place and we wanted to play our part in helping other transport professionals. I'm proud of how quickly our colleagues have reacted to this situation and are helping people in difficult circumstances."