More than one in seven vehicles using the Dartford Crossing in December failed to pay for their journeys on time.

The Highways Agency said that around 85% of the two million crossings made during the 6am - 10pm charging period since the removal of toll booths on 30 November had been paid for.

But this means that around 300,000 journeys were made without payment being received before midnight the day after a crossing.

A Highways Agency spokesman played down the large number of non-paying drivers, describing the first month of the new 'Dart Charge' remote payment system as "an encouraging start".

He added: “85% is not a bad start but we will seek to improve on that with a continued public information campaign. We hope to achieve 93% compliance when the system is fully up and running.”

Penalty charge notices have begun to be issued to drivers who have not paid to use the Crossing. But the Agency is giving each driver contacted for the first time an extra 14 days to pay for trips made without penalty.

More than one million vehicles have registered to have an online Dart Charge account, which allows motorists to pay for their journeys in advance or the day after they use the crossing.

Work to remove toll booths and change road layouts at Dartford continues. The Highways Agency claims that removal of payments at the barriers has led to quicker crossings. Average journey times are said to have been cut by seven minutes southbound and four minutes northbound. 

“The introduction of Dart Charge has been a big change so it is great that the vast majority of drivers have paid the charge," said project director Nigel Gray.

(Photo: Highways Agency)

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