SOME drivers have been charged double to use the Dartford Crossing since cash payments were scrapped last year, according to the AA.

Technical glitches have been reported since online and phone payments replaced cash at the Thames crossing in November.

The AA has written to Highways England, which is responsible for the crossing, to express concerns.

It also said complaints from people paying online were not being resolved quickly enough.

AA president Edmund King said: “As has been highlighted by the resentment of families who passed on cars to relatives and had to pay Vehicle Excise Duty twice for that month, another new Government scheme for drivers has produced unintended consequences – resulting in a backlash from the people it was supposed to serve.

“It is particularly galling that any toll remains at Dartford. The tolls and charges were supposed to be lifted in 2003 when the cost of the scheme had been met.”

The AA provided Highways England with details of a driver who had two payments taken for a single crossing on February 2.

The complainant had phoned a customer services number and reported: “The chap I spoke had a very poor attitude, saying ‘yeah a lot of people have been getting this’.”

Another email showed a motorist had been charged twice using the new Dart Charge system when using the crossing on April 13.

In a tweet to the Dart Charge account earlier this month, Southend resident Clive Turrell said: “Twice I’ve credited my account online without it appearing on my account. When you call staff haven’t a clue.”

A Highways England spokesman said: “As the AA has stated, the vast majority of the 100,000 chargeable crossings at Dartford made each day are processed accurately and smoothly.

“Given the scale of transactions, from time to time errors will be made, for which we apologise unreservedly.

“We appreciate the AA recognising that when we are made aware of issues we work with customers to resolve them as quickly as possible.

“We continue to work hard to ensure that errors are kept to an absolute minimum.”