A mum suffering with a severe heart condition has had her car clamped over a Dart Charge mishap.

Teresa Newman, 55, paid for the crossing back in February after going to visit a friend in Essex, but was stunned when enforcement officers turned up demanding she pay a £425 fine.

The former dinner lady, of Eynsford Road, Crockenhill, was shocked when she was woken up at 6.30am last Thursday by a bang at the door.

She said: “They wrote me a letter before but I spoke to one of the bosses and I thought it had all been dealt with but obviously not.”

Ms Newman suffers with cardiomyopathy, which causes difficulties breathing and heart palpitations and can worsen with stress.

She said: “I use my car for all of my hospital and doctor’s appointments and without it I wouldn’t be able to get around at all. If I walk too far I get out of breath and I have palpitations. It is so scary.”

Regularly going over the crossing, Miss Newman made a habit of paying the toll the day before she was due to travel.

She added: “I always paid in advance for ease of mind, and I can see that I paid on the actual day, February 10, from my bank statements.

“I have sent all of this across and they have said they can see I paid.

“They just aren’t telling me what number plate I entered so I don’t know where it has gone wrong, what I did.

“The people I have been talking to are like robots, they aren’t interested and they have no compassion.”

After losing her husband, Wayne, to a heart attack 15 years ago, her sister-in-law, Cheryl Gurney, has been one of her main support lines and has been helping her to resolve the dispute.

Mrs Gurney, 57, said: “It is just ridiculous, we have done everything they have asked us to do. I am petrified that her car is going to be lifted when she really needs it.”

The clamp was removed on Monday and now after a six-month battle Highways England has said it will accept payment of the original crossing charge and waive the fine, despite Mrs Newman having already paid it.