A couple claim they have been relentlessly hounded to pay a Dart Charge fine of nearly £200 for a crossing they never made.

Paul and Julie Scully were accused of making the crossing over the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge to Kent from Essex at 10.30am on New Year’s Eve 2015.

They were sent a letter in January saying their Ford Fiesta with the number plate BJ57 VEF was snapped making the unpaid journey.

As well as the £70 fine, attached to the letter sent by the Department for Transport, was an image of a BMW with the number plate BJ57 YEF.

An online search by the Messenger confirmed this number plate does belong to another car and not their little Fiesta.

The couple live 150 miles away in Walsall. It was Mrs Scully, a 56-year-old care assistant for people with learning disabilities, who all the correspondence has been addressed to, and it has left her in a state of panic for the past eight months.

Mr Scully, 60, said: “We contacted Dart Charge and they stated that it was clearly a mistake. They said not to worry about it, they would sort it out. We did so at our peril. We have since been threatened that bailiffs will visit.

“The wife is so upset and distressed about it all that she wants to pay the fine even though she did not commit the offence.”

By the start of August, the fine had escalated to £189.50.

Mr Scully, a dispatcher for Midland Metro Trams, added: “We have never been to Dartford in our lives. I wish that someone with a little common sense could help us out of this situation. We are still having to phone and fill in forms to HM Courts.”

A spokesman for Highways England, which manages Dart Charge, said: “We apologise unreservedly to Mr and Mrs Scully as this error should have been resolved when they first brought it to our attention.

“We have been in touch
with them to confirm that all enforcement action has
now been cancelled and to apologise for any distress this has caused them.”