AN “ESSENTIAL” Customs office has opened to keep trade with the European Union moving through the Port of Poole.

The port says the Public Trade Office will create and safeguard jobs and that the future of the port would have been in jeopardy without it.

The LEP invested more than £2m to fund both the Public Trade Office – also known as an International Trade Customs Office – and a port operations facility including a Border Control Post. It spent £950,000 of the government's Getting Building Fund allocation to Dorset on the Customs facility, which will be operated by the UK Border Force.

The LEP invested more than £2m to fund both the Public Trade Office and a port operations facility to include a Border Control Post.

LEP board member Arabella Lewis-Smith said: “It is fantastic to see this new Public Trade Office up and running. The Port of Poole is an important economic asset within the Dorset economy and to date Dorset LEP has invested over £22million in the area.

“The trade office will effectively manage and safeguard trade between the port and the EU for the future, creating jobs and supporting business growth.”

Jim Stewart, chief executive of Poole Harbour Commissioners, said: “The Public Trade Office is an essential piece of infrastructure for a port.

“This will enable traffic to flow through the port. Without the construction of this building, it would have jeopardised the future for the Port of Poole.

“For businesses importing or exporting through Poole, this facility will ensure they have access to Europe. It will create economic growth, it will create jobs, and it will help to keep Poole on the map as an international gateway.”

The Border Control Post project, to be finished soon, will include offices and welfare facilities for 46 port staff including stevedores, foremen, port operation and accounts staff. Existing facilities are being demolished to make way for it.

The Border Control Post is expected to be up and running by January 1. Agencies including the Department for Environmental, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency will use the post to ensure freight coming through the port meets UK standards.