Dartford Crossing dubbed 'Britain's worst motorway'

The approach to the Dartford Crossing has been dubbed Britain's worst stretch of motorway by an MP who has criticised the new cashless payment system.

Conservative MP for Dartford Gareth Johnson told Parliament the free-flow system which replaced toll booths on the Kent side had led to traffic jams.

Leader of the House Chris Grayling MP said Highways England needed to deliver a better set-up.

Highways England said journey times had "improved significantly".

Nigel Gray, project director of Dart Charge, the new payment system, said drivers had also been given more flexibility about how and when they paid the crossing charge.

He added that a new Traffic Safety System was introduced on the northbound carriageway in June and staff were "working flat out to fine-tune" it to ensure "optimum performance and to maximise traffic flow".

But, in calling for a debate on the issue, Mr Johnson said the new system had "clearly failed to live up to expectations".

He said the residents of Dartford were left at the mercy of any incident that took place at the crossing.

'Get skates on'

Mr Grayling said he understood the knock-on effect for constituents.

"I have to say it is frustrating it has not worked better sooner because the free-flow should be a dramatic improvement on what was there before and it's disappointing that hasn't yet happened."

He said he was aware Highways England understood the problem but said they needed to "get their skates on" to tackle it.

"We cannot leave both that important part of the M25 and the residents of Dartford in a position where things are not best yet."

Gareth Johnson MP said the new system had led to horrendous traffic jams in the area

When the plans were drawn up, Highways England said it would reduce congestion and ease traffic flow.

The new payment system, which saw barriers removed and motorists charged through number plate recognition cameras, came into force on 30 November.

Users complained about delays and failures of the computerised system for setting up accounts to pay the new Dart Charge, but Highways England said they were "teething problems".