More than a third of the £209m income generated by the Dartford Crossing continues to come from fines.

Highways England has revealed penalty charge notices (PCNs) demanding payments totalling nearly £73m were issued to those travelling between Kent and Essex up to April last year.

The latest accounts for the year ended March 31 2020, shows income generated from the Crossing has increased by £13.3m to £209m.

It saw the government pocket £106.8m, compared to £91.4m, the year before and £79.3m a year prior.

Contributions are allocated to Department for Transport coffers and pumped back into transport projects such as improving the local road infrastructure.

The operator has now turned over a profit six years in a row since 2014 when the toll barriers were removed.

It was replaced with a free flowing online charge system, known as the DartCharge.

In that time Highways England has issued millions of PCNs against drivers who fail to pay on time for the Crossing – the two tunnels and bridge that carry M25 traffic across the Thames.

It means in total it has now raised more than £420m from fines over this period.

But the amount of money raised from PCNs – which made up more than a third of its revenue – actually fell slightly last year.

Enforcement income has been valued at £72.9m, a decrease of £1.6m on last year which Highways England says is due to an increase in compliance.

However, the government-owned company also had to write off more than £30m as unrecoverable.

Another £9.7m was deducted from proceeds as "movement in allowance for doubtful debt", which translates to outstanding fines it is still trying to chase.

The accounts also show a £185,000 cost alongside the entry “EU tunnel directive on safety”, which will most likely be omitted next year.

Previously, compliance with the EU directive had added £1.8m to the costs of the operation and in 2017-18 added another £4.4m to the bill.

Around 180,000 vehicles are said to use the Crossing every day.

But the pandemic has had an impact on traffic volumes with people encouraged to work from home where possible.

Highways England estimates that 800,000 crossings were lost between 15-31 March following the government's instructions to stay home but for essential travel.

Volumes decreased during charging hours by 2.1% and by 4.9% outside of these times.

Two months into the first lockdown last year it was reported the number of people using the Crossing had halved resulting in a dip in the number of PCNs being issued.

A pledge was made to end the charge when the debt for the construction of the bridge was repaid almost 19 years ago.

But in 2019 the government outlined its intentions for the fee to "remain in force indefinitely".

It currently costs £2.50 to cross for cars, £3 for pick-up trucks, vans and lorries and £6 for larger vehicles.

Discounts are available for local residents and those who register for an account with more people electing to do so than in previous years.

You can get a £70 fine if you do not pay the charge which must be paid within 28 days. The fine will be reduced to £35 if you pay within 14 days increased to £105 if you do not pay it.

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