lt was also our first time via the Channel Tunnel and through the Coquelles Border Force setup. It's given us something to think about.
So to the trip ... we arrived at the Tunnel and through passport controls. It was there we encountered our first contact with Border Force. The female officer had a somewhat arrogant manner and wanted to know where we were going and what we were buying. Cue Zaphod ... who politely questioned what concern her interest was in our travel details and especially our intended purchases. She did not like this at all and became quite aggressive and then threatened us with "they'd get us on the way back!'
Zaphod then produced his recorder and demanded her id number (it was hidden as often is the case). She very reluctantly gave it up ... 4604. With that we were on our way to the next passport control ... the French one. This officer's attitude was in total contrast to Officer 4604. He was smiling and joked with us, did a cursory passport check and we were on our way.
We arrived in France and were first off (disabled priority) and 30 or so mins later we were in Adinkerke at Tobacco Real. It was great to see Peter again (the owner of Tobacco Real). We spent a good while chatting with him about the social club and the trade in general. Our guys bought their goods, we filled the bus up at Peter's petrol station ( approx £1 a litre) and we were on our way again ... back to the promised awaiting ambush by Border Force at Coquelles.
We flew through the friendly French Customs no problem and then were onto our Border Force. The officer was a middle-aged guy and like the French ones very friendly. The mood was very jovial as he checked our passports (interestingly, this was the first time mine and Zaphod's passports had been looked at. In the UK we only handed over 3 passports of the guys onboard to Border Force and their French counterparts but they didn't request the others ... including ours. )
The officer read details off his computer and then apologised to us and said we had to be detained for a while and would we go over to the search area (Sked sheds). He kept all our passports and off we went to the Sked sheds.
Everyone was quite calm as all were well prepared for this eventuality. We parked up, open up all the doors and everyone exited into the French sunshine. We were smoking and generally chatting as we took in the glorious rays and awaited the Border Force. There was only 1 other vehicle there and it was a coach full of kids and families. They all boarded and we were then the only solitary vehicle there.
The toilets are inside the main building so some of us wandered off to use the facilities. Outside the building l struck up a conversation with another Border Force officer. We were talking about Harley Davidsons due to him commenting on my HD t-shirt. After about 10 mins, l returned to our bus but no Border Force officers had turned up yet.
About 5 mins later a female officer approached with all our passports. She handed us them back and told us to be on our way!
Stunned, we boarded the bus and drove off into the sunset :)
Explanation? ... l have none.
So the bus is no longer a virgin ... first mission completed. Maybe we can acquire a mission tally like this :)
Got to give a mention to 2 of our 'boys in blue' at the Tunnel shopping centre in the UK. Take care guys, l don't know who's crazier ... you 2 or me? :)
Credit also has to go the French officials (UK and Coquelles) .... and the 2 Border Force officers l encountered at Coquelles. May the sun always shine on you.
Oh, Officer 4604 ... get a life ... and a personality transplant.
And last but certainly not least ... P, J, T and M! Simply the best!
ps Bobi assures me he has now officially retired from 'driving' :)
UPDATE
Thought we'd go the way of the WW2 aircraft. Life's made to have fun :)
Is it worth a SAR to if they recorded anything on the system.
ReplyDeleteGarry
Always worth it :)
Delete₤10 well spent IMO. Even if it comes back blank (as my last one did), its still nice to stick in the 'Previous Trips In The Last 12 Months' chapter of the SOT... paper wins everytime. The pen is mightier than the Sked...especially their own pen.
Delete"As you can see from BF's own record's, Officer.."
great trip and some fantastic company,total confidence in the driving and reliability of the bus.
ReplyDeletegreat music from the sound system.
tea/coffee facilities a godsend.
great advice given from both steve and mick.
the encounter with the jobnsworth ukba female was something else! after seeing mick in action everyone felt totally confident.
this is a great way to do your shopping for the personel shopper,i certainly wouldn't hesitate travelling again with these guys,look forward to the next trip,even if i dont need any baccy i would still go along for the ride.
all i can say guys is thanks,you put a lot of hard work in setting this trip up,very very much appreciated.
Best guess - 4604 did indeed put some nasty little comment into the UKBF computer system asking for you to be stopped, lads and lasses at Coquelles looked at it and, while you were using the little boys' room, decided that they had better things to do with their time than harrass yourselves on the say-so of a trainee with PMT and attitude.
ReplyDeleteI had one very bad experience at Coquelles about three years ago (whole coach held and everyone interviewed, over about five hours, nothing taken from anybody and a complaint put in about it by the coach company - apparantly the coach company owner and one female supervisor from UKBA as it was then had an ongoing row and she simply picked on him, he got an apology after a year-long 'investigation' and never a repeat), but apart from that have never had a problem there, always found them polite, sometimes even smiling (honestly!). Dover ferry port is another matter entirely, aggressive, rude, unfriendly and, at best, border-line illegal on two trips out of three, although, so far, nother ever seized.
So the bus and N2D.SC lost their cherry(but NOT their baccy!), the BF'er her patience and UK GOV a whole chunk of obscene tobacco duty and fuel duty on top!
ReplyDeleteProps to all, especially Bobi, for getting it this far.
Well done lads. Nice to see you give credit where credit is due
ReplyDelete"Nice to see you give credit where credit is due"
ReplyDeleteOne of the hallmarks of this site, always has been. The boys shoot from the hip, tell it like it is and give full and frank credit to those who deserve it.
The unofficial motto of N2D.me is 'We don't do nice, we do Right' ...or perhaps the motto is "the absurdity of this reason is...."
Told you l'd look you up lol. I'm the one with the Norton. Glad to see you got no real grief from Customs. A lot of these Customs staff are like our PCSOs. I don't think l need add to that. Anyone that prefers Harleys to Nortons has to be the crazy one :-0
ReplyDeletehahaha would any goonie want to be plastered all over n2d like the ones already on it? looks like word has got round
ReplyDelete/me groans and cracks fingers then downs yet another coffee.
ReplyDeleteIt was a brilliant trip, thanks to SH, Zaphod,Bobi and everyone (brain is too befuddled to remember you all), I am getting too old for these all nighters.
It was great fun though even if it will take me a week to get over it. As SH said, the fuel at that place was phenominally cheap and the diesel was cheaper than the unleaded (now what was the excuse the petrol companies use? not enough diesel to go round? More like while you are all buying diesel cars we will use it as an excuse to rip you off). Damn shame I have to wait about 12 weeks before going on the next one from a stock and body recovery time point of view.
If you were worried about going with the lads (no get your minds out the gutter) on one of these trips, worry yea not and get your bookings in. Personally I look forward to meeting many more of you on these jaunts (and forgetting your names due to sleep deprivation). OK Chaps maximum effort and Tally Ho!
Sounds like an excellent trip. Sorry I couldn't be with you and share the driving on this one due to commitments (rare for me) but hope to be with you soon .Your experience of being took into the shed is the same as happened to me at Dover last month. 10 mins delay and then sent on our way with apologies. Some new tactics afoot I think-yet to be revealed!
ReplyDeleteAnd hey...who's knocking Harley Davidsons, been riding 'em nonstop for years and still got one!
eezyrider
"diesel was cheaper than the unleaded (now what was the excuse the petrol companies"
ReplyDeleteI think RT that you will find it was one of Gordon Brown's first presents to us as chancellor - he upped diesel tax in his budget because it had a higher calorific value and did more mpg than petrol.
Glad to hear your first trip went well guys.
"because it had a higher calorific value and did more mpg than petrol."
ReplyDeleteAaahhh thank you...it's all so clear now...and there was me thinking that it was simply because he was a money grabbing sourfaced Scotch git.
Silly me.
...it did wonders for the Cooking Oil Recycling market though.
Yes Cheers Woodsy, I didn't know that either and the trouble with the recycled oil business is it smells like you are following a mobile chip shop ;-).
ReplyDeleteCourse I did know that if you get into all that recycling oil business you have to declare that too....so they can tax you on it.
Great to see that first run went well and that the bus wasn't confiscated [:-)
ReplyDeleteFor reference there is a toilet in Sked's sheds. When we were stopped for nearly 30 mins last November I asked to use the loo ( hoping to be refused) and was escorted to building on far left.
It was all vey nonchalant when we were stopped. Everybody just wandered about to wherever they wanted ... incl the toilets.. The Border Force staff at the Sked sheds seemed not to know what was going on with us.
Deletei use cooking oil in my vehicles,the older type toyota mpv imports,you can use upto 2500 litres a year without declaring to hmrc,but the price now has shot up from,39p a litre to around £1.30 a litre!(but can still be bought in bulk at some cash n carry's for less than a £ a litre) so not much of a saving anymore,unless you recycle your own,but chippies also jumped on the band wagon and sell used oil for around 50p a litre,then this needs to be filtered and treated,lot of trouble imo,btw not all vehicles will run on veg oil.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your next trip boys and girls, The Dunkirk spirt, We hope to come down from Scotland and do a trip with the local HERO'S
ReplyDeleteWhy is everyone complaining about my driving ?????
ReplyDeleteYou pay good money for a white knuckle ride like that at Alton Towers , a good £30 at least !!!!
Anyway I have decided I am too knackered to drive these days and my apologies to anyone upset by my antics...[;-)
Back to business I'll be putting in a complaint to Penfold at Dover about 4604 with a backup copy to IPCC just in case.
We're also having a re-think about Chunnel from the North as its 'a bridge too far' and its looks like we can get a reasonable deal out of P&O for the Hull route in September more on the N2D.SC site shortly....
"I'll be putting in a complaint to Penfold at Dover about 4604 with a backup copy to IPCC just in case."
ReplyDeleteA thread on the forum with copies of the correspondence would be really good I think. People need to know how to complain.
Addresses to complain to http://n2d.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=32
ReplyDeletelook it up on the forum
bobi
Well done guys.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great trip.