Dartford Crossing: More than £1m sat in 'inactive' Dart Charge accounts

Nearly 78,000 Dart Charge accounts have not been used for more than a year

More than £1m is sitting in unused toll bridge payment accounts, figures show.

Nearly 78,000 Dart Charge accounts - used to pre-pay the Dartford Crossing toll - are "inactive", Highways England said.

After 12 months without use, drivers are told their accounts will be closed in 90 days if they do not make a crossing or request an extension.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson said accounts should not be automatically closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"When people's work practices have changed, we should enable people to keep those accounts open for a longer period of time, because this is just causing nothing but misery for motorists," he said.

The bridge, which spans the River Thames between Essex and Kent, has no toll booths and instead uses cameras to detect number plates.

The Dart Charge online payment system replaced toll booths when it was introduced in 2014

Many drivers were unaware their accounts had been closed and risked being fined for not paying the charge when they do use the bridge, Mr Johnson said.

He said the policy had caused "a lot of anger amongst local people," adding: "They are very frustrated at the fact they have had their accounts suspended."

Responding to a Freedom of Information request from Money Saving Expert, Highways England said that as of 19 November 2020 there were 77,949 inactive accounts, containing a total of £1,014,414.

Steve Nowottny, an editor at the personal finance website, said the fact refunds were not issued automatically had "upset a lot of people".

"It's hard to explain why people should have to call up to get their money back when their account has been automatically closed." he said

Highways England said account holders can reclaim money from inactive accounts at any time.

A spokesman said: "If a customer's Dart Charge Pre-Paid account has been inactive for over 12 months, we notify them to advise of this and of the steps they need to take in order to allow it to close/obtain a refund of their credit balance or to keep it open.

"This is in accordance with our terms and conditions, which advise customers that they need to contact us to get a refund of any account balance."