The main Border Force security database - called 'Border Crossing' which was introduced just under three years ago at a cost of £372million - appeared to have suffered a complete shutdown.
There is ongoing chaos at airports across the UK tonight after Border Force IT systems collapsed nationwide in a 'major, major incident' leaving thousands of passengers trapped in queues.
'The involvement of major airports in different parts of the country, from Gatwick to Manchester, suggests this is a nationwide system crash. Long queues at Gatwick Airport as thousands of passengers are waiting for their passports to be checkedQueues at Heathrow Airport are slowly moving after an announcement said the eGates were back up and running
They were unable to leave the planes because of the crisis unfolding in the terminals, where thousands of passengers were queueing in corridors and in the arrivals halls. He told MailOnline: 'There was no hint of any issues when we landed, getting off the plane or arriving to where border force was. But then there was a massive scrum of people and we could see the e-gates were not working.
Kylee Charles, who was among those stuck in queues at Gatwick, told MailOnline: 'We were caught up in the chaos. We've only just got out of Gatwick after waiting in huge queues of disgruntled travellers' Pictures shared on social media also show massive lines at Luton Airport Kylee Charles, who was among those stuck in queues at Gatwick, told MailOnline: 'We were caught up in the chaos. We've only just got out of Gatwick after waiting in huge queues of disgruntled travellers.
'The machines were then turned off and the person who was managing the queue was apologetic, saying they were understaffed and he didn't know what was going on. It appeared to be a problem to manually process people. In more than an hour, Felix said he only moved about 30 metres - despite announcements that the eGates were up and running again.
Gemma O'Kelly, 40, had been travelling from Faro in Portugal to Stansted with her five children when she got caught up in the delays. 'It was just frustrating as we were told 10 minutes then nothing for 30 minutes,' Ms O'Kelly said. 'They kept saying they would be manually checking people through but nothing was happening for around 1 hour and 20. The others will be there much longer.'She said: 'I've only been in the queue for about ten minutes thus far and honestly, it doesn't look as bad as Heathrow, so I'm feeling lucky about that! But it is roasting and everyone is irritated.
Passengers have started making their way through border control into the arrivals hall at Heathrow AirportMeanwhile many were waiting outside arrivals to pick up passengers stuck in the long queues for the Border Force 'Our teams are supporting Border Force with their contingency plans to help resolve the problem as quickly as possible and are on hand to provide passenger welfare. We apologise for any impact this is having to passenger journeys.'
Read More Two thirds of UK adults are unaware of new EU biometric border controls set to be enforced for Brit holidaymakers from October this year, survey reveals 'Although not in a peak arrivals period, some passengers may experience longer than normal waits at the border while UKBF works to fix the issue. Thank you for your patience.'
'We are working closely with Border Force and affected airports to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologise to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.'
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