One driver was charged 34 times despite never using the Dartford Crossing (Picture: Getty)
Motorists have been left in limbo after they were slapped with Dartford Crossing fines – despite never using the M25 crossing.
Drivers were left confused after receiving a fine for using the River Thames crossing at the border of Kent and Essex – although they had not been there.
In total, £4,000,000 worth of Dartford Crossing fines were mistakenly given to drivers in 12 months.
National Highways was forced to cancel 59,007 penalty charge notices (PCNs) in the year after it switched to a new provider to handle payments for the crossing, figures obtained by the PA news agency reveal.
Cars have been mistakenly identified by ANPR cameras at Dartford (Picture: PA)
In the previous 12 months, the highways authority had cancelled 3,595 PCNs.
The cancelled PCNs were worth £4,100,000 as each was £70 and reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days.
Conduent, a private US company providing digital operations, was given a £150 million contract by National Highways to manage the crossing payments from July 28, 2023.
However, after Conduent took over, drivers began facing issues at Dartford Crossing which consists of a bridge and two tunnels.
There were instances of motorists being fined or charged when a vehicle with a similar register plate to their own used the crossing.
Others were unable to make payments and manage accounts.
National Highways said it has ‘resolved the issues.’
Use of the crossing between 6am and 10pm incurs a payment called Dart Charge.
The payments – ranging from £2.50 for cars to £6 for lorries – must be paid by midnight the day after the crossing, with payments options such as online accounts, telephone and post available.
But if the payment is not made, PCNs are issued for vehicle detected by the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
‘They don’t care if they make a mistake’
Several drivers were caught in a Kafkaesque nightmare after receiving a mystery fine and struggling to resolve it.
Dr Jenny Dunne, 64, from north London, was charged 34 times on her Dart Charge account in the seven months to late April for crossings she did not make.
Instead, the cameras had incorrectly identified a number plate similar to hers – it had a 3 instead of a 1.
Dr Dunne tried to call up the Dart Charge contact centre – but she struggled to get it resolved, forcing her to spend time and energy in the process.
She said: ‘I had no idea what was happening. At the beginning I got quite upset. I thought my number plate had been cloned so I contacted the police. It turned out the cameras were faulty.
The Dartford Crossing was meant to be free after the construction debt was paid off, but this never happened (Picture: Getty Images)
‘It’s taken an awful lot of my time and wasted a lot of my energy. I rang them so many times.
‘I never …read more
Source:: Metro
