Dart Charge payment change sparks motorist anger: 'It's impossible to pay'

Changes to the way motorists pay to use the Dartford Crossing have sparked anger, with many saying they were unable to pay the charge.

The Dart Charge is the payment for crossing the Thames between Kent and Essex, and operates via an online system.

But changes to the way it works, set to come into force on Friday (28 July) called for motorists to update their payment details or face potential fines for not paying.

Initially, customers were told that the website would be unavailable until the Sunday afternoon (30 July), meaning they would have to log in again on Sunday to re-validate their payment card and pay for any crossings they had made, threatening potential penalty charge notices (PCN) if people didn't pay.

But on Sunday night many were still unable to pay the charge, with an error message on the website saying they had been "placed into a queue".

One Twitter user wrote on Sunday night he had been trying to pay since 9pm on Saturday night, saying: " It is impossible to pay the charge. Will you confirm you will not issue PCNs for this weekend?"

He later added on Monday morning that he was still unable to pay, adding: "Website still down. No Monday update on your Twitter account. What happens if it is down all day today as well - will you be automatically sending out PCNs?"

Someone else wrote: "Its Monday morning now and I still can’t access my account, keep saying that the username/passwords are incorrect even after MULTIPLE times of changing new passwords again and again.

"What are you going to do with my time wasted since Sunday midday and going through the anxiety??"

Someone else branded the system "hopeless" and a "shambles" after trying to change payment details but being unable to.

On Monday a message was posted on the Dart Charge Twitter account saying: "We are experiencing an exceptionally high demand for the Dartcharge contact centre and website which means our systems are currently at capacity and therefore people are struggling to access the website and our call centre advisors.

"We are working hard to resolve this and your patience is appreciated. Please be assured that we will be extending the payment period for crossings made over the weekend to account for the system issues."