Drivers were left frustrated after the online system for collecting and paying the fee for one of Britain's busiest road crossings went down over the weekend.

Cash payments for the Dartford Crossing were scrapped six years ago with the "Dart Charge" system now the only way to pay online.

Motorists have until midnight the day after their journey to pay the charge or face the risk of a £70 fine.

But enraged drivers took to social media on Saturday to vent their frustration after the sole system for collecting the payment went down and they were greeted with an error message.

It comes after long waits on the busy road crossing due to an earlier police incident, when a man was found dead.

One user posted: "How do I pay my crossing charge when your website has been down all day and your phones are not answered?"

Another added: "Wasted half an hour trying to pay Dart Charge for the Dartford Crossing for a house guest.

"Website is down, call centre overloaded. Risk of a fine because of the incompetence with which public services are provided."

The issue has now been resolved and Highways England, which manages the road network, has since apologised to customers for the technical fault.

A spokesperson said: "We are aware that some road users encountered difficulties when attempting to make one-off payments on Saturday, August 15 due to an isolated systems issue that day, which has been fixed.

“As a result, our contact centre was exceptionally busy assisting customers during that time. We would like to apologise for this, and for any inconvenience caused to our customers."

The government-owned company recommended those customers unable to make payments for their crossing on Saturday, and who have still have not done so, contact Dart Charge Customer Services on 0300 300 0120 as soon as possible.

Residents who pay council tax to Dartford council are eligible for discounted journeys.

This enables drivers to pay either £20 a year to use the Dartford Crossing as many times, or pay £10 for 50 crossings, plus 20p for each additional crossing.

With the exception of motorcyclists all other road users must pay the crossing in full either before making the journey or by making a payment the next day.

Read more: All the latest news from Dartford