Liberal Democrats have urged Andy Burnham to ask European leaders to suspend the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) until at least September, as millions of Britons begin summer holidays abroad. The biometric border system requires non-EU travellers to be photographed and fingerprinted, and concerns remain that it could cause long queues, missed flights and disruption during the peak travel period.

About 2.2 million Britons are expected to travel overseas from Friday to Monday, with Spain the leading destination, followed by Greece, Portugal, Italy and Turkey. Greece has indicated it will not apply the extra checks to most UK visitors, while French automated booths have technical problems; French police are also not conducting biometric checks for motorists at Dover and Eurotunnel, where queues have so far remained below 40 minutes.