Dart Charge deadline extended after website disruption

Drivers using the Dartford Crossing have had a deadline to pay charges and update their account details extended after the website crashed sparking concern among some motorists.

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

Changes to the way it works, which came into force last Friday (28 July), called for motorists to update their payment details or face potential fines.

But the website has suffered persistent problems over the past few days, leading Highways England to extend deadlines after drivers could not pay the charge.

Yahoo News has repeatedly checked the gov.uk link to pay and was still being placed in a queue as late as 6.54pm on Wednesday, though the link did also work on a number occasions throughout the day.

Dart Charge account holders now have until 31 August to update their card details on the website and non-account holders who use the crossing between 27 July and 14 August have until 15 August to pay the charge.

A National Highways spokesperson said: “The Dart Charge websites and customer contact centres are all operating.

“We apologise for the service issues users have faced over the last few days and have implemented service improvements.

“While customers may still experience short delays, the average online wait time is now less than 5 minutes."

It comes after several drivers complained they could not make the payment due to the website being down and there was no way to backdate payments online.

One Twitter user wrote: “Trying to pay for 2 crossing since Sunday and this is my only option, no option to pay for the crossing already made. Do NOT send me a PCN.”

Another user added: “You completely failed to include a menu option to allow people to pay the charges from the last few days when the service was down.

“Did you not do ANY testing of this new service before launching? The incompetence is astounding.”

Customers were initially told the website would be unavailable until Sunday afternoon, meaning they would have to log in again 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 a message on the website saying they had been "placed into a queue".

One Twitter user wrote that 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 branded the system "hopeless" and a "shambles" after trying to change payment details but being unable to.