The government has ruled out an investigation into the performance of the Dartford Crossing, despite thousands of people signing a petition calling for a public inquiry.

More than 16,000 signatures on the petition meant the government had to respond, and in that, the Department for Transport has insisted that “considerable improvements” have been made to the crossing since the Dart Charge scheme was introduced two years ago.

The response, which claims the scheme has allowed motorists to enjoy reduced journey times and lower fares, was criticised by Dartford MP Gareth Johnson as “exasperating and insulting”.

The DfT statement said: “The government has no plans to launch a public inquiry into the performance of the northbound crossing. Dart Charge has reduced journey times for drivers.

“These have been delivered despite an increase in traffic volumes of 7.2% over the last year, almost an extra 3.7 million crossings. Drivers are also seeing other benefits.

“Over one million drivers have Dart Charge accounts and are saving up to a third on every crossing, and more people living in Dartford and Thurrock are benefitting from the Local Residents Discount scheme than ever before.”

Mr Johnson, who last month warned that someone would die if the unprecedented number of severe delays continued, said he had told Highways England he refuted their claims that journey times were quicker now.

He said: “This claim is entirely counter-productive and angers residents.

“Anybody who has experience of the crossing knows this assertion is both exasperating and insulting. We need Highways England to come up with radical and innovative solutions to the congestion.

“They have agreed to carry out some traffic modelling, which will help find where improvements could be made, but they also acknowledge they will struggle to find improvements until a new crossing is built.”

The MP’s view was shared by Dartford Labour leader Cllr Jonathon Hawkes, who attended a Dartford council meeting on Monday where members backed a motion to support the petition.

He said: “The response from the government to a petition that has been signed by over 16,000 people in just a few weeks has been pathetic. It certainly falls way short of the response people in Dartford deserve.

“It’s a hugely complacent attitude when local people are stuck in gridlock night after night. It’s clear the government is not taking Dartford’s gridlock crisis seriously.”