An extra £9 million will be provided by the UK Government to major ports and surrounding areas to ensure they are ready for Brexit.

£5 million will be provided to local councils near to major ports (air, sea and land) to ensure that they can continue to operate efficiently from the 31st October.

£4 million will be allocated to local resilience forums (LRFs) to plan and respond to emergencies, if necesssary.

It was already announced in February this year that 19 UK local authorities with a major port would receive a share of £3.14 million.

Tim Morris, chief executive of the UK Major Ports Group said

"Extra funding for the often hard pressed Local Authorities in port areas is welcome. But we should be realistic about the degree of significant change that’s possible between now and the end of October. Support for Local Authorities in these areas also needs to be ongoing, to ensure we’re strategically developing the strength of the UK’s main global gateways for trade for the long term."

As Kent is the home county for some of the UKs busy ports including Dover and Eurotunnel, these local authorities will receive over £2.6 million to help with continued, efficient operation.

Allocation of funds is based on the expected impact of Brexit on the local area, the amount of goods received from the EU by the ports and the impact this has on the UK's trade network.

Approximately £77 million has been provided by the UK government to help local areas prepare for Brexit so far.