Dart Charge operators are under fire for failing to sort out chaos caused by ‘improvements’ to their payment system.

Drivers have been struggling to settle their accounts after an update that went live a month ago, with some reporting long queues on the website and jammed phone lines.

As a result National Highways extended the time period for motorists to pay.

Non-account holders who used the Dartford tunnel or crossing between July 27 and August 14, would have until August 15. That has since been extended again, to August 29.

Dart Charge account holders have until August 31 to update their card details.

Butcher Gary Hunt, from Strood, said he had been trying to pay since the start of August, to no avail.

He told KentOnline: “They said they’d moved the deadline until August 31 but I’ve tried constantly, and every time it’s ‘you are number 186 in the queue.’

“How can they get away with this? We need to let them know it’s not acceptable. As a responsible customer I’ve been trying but nothing’s changing.

“They’re getting away with murder. They’re not doing anything. I don’t want to end up going through and thinking ‘it’s ok I’ve got an account’, and then end up getting a fine.

“They’re making money out of not updating their system properly. They should stop the charge until they’ve got this system working.”

Other motorists agreed, with several commenting on Kent Online’s report on the situation earlier this month.

Karen White wrote: “Why make it your customer's problem? Better to have waived the charge whilst the system was down.

Read more: Why are we still paying the Dart Charge

“Take the income hit, it will probably cost you more trying to sort out the problems it caused.”

Another said motorists were being made to feel they had committed a misdemeanor over a problem caused by the operators, adding: “So I have to keep trying to log on all this afternoon and evening to find there is no login page for account holders, just so I can keep to their self-imposed deadline?

“Until the payment system actually works put it on free to use and stop threatening people about not paying.”

One commenter added: “What an absolute shambles!!! Do the decent thing and cancel all payments till you’ve sorted your mess out.”

The changes, brought in on July 28, have come about as a new service provider has taken over the payment system.

“They’re making money out of not updating their system properly...”

Conduent is responsible for vehicle identification, payment processing and account management while French company emovis will continue to issue and handle inquiries for fines.

The changes, along with new banking requirements, mean account holders need to re-validate their payment cards in order for payments to go through, or risk a £70 fine for unpaid journeys.

When asked how many people had been trying to access the Dart Charge website last month, National Highways said it did not have those figures.

A spokesman for the organisation said: “We recently announced updates to the Dart Charge service. Whilst the new service is now live, we recognise that there have been some unforeseen issues that have affected the level of service provided.

“We sincerely apologise for any disruptions customers may have encountered and want customers to be assured that they are committed to addressing these issues as quickly as possible.

“From August 16 recent crossings will begin to appear on accounts and auto payments will begin to be taken but this may take some time as the system catches up.

“We would like to reassure customers that we have captured crossing information and your account will be fully up to date by August 31.

“For any crossings made between 27 July and 14 August but not paid for, there will be a final opportunity to pay at the Road User Crossing rate for a period of 14 days.

“This will be explained in a letter to the registered keeper, attached to the PCN, where they will offer an opportunity to only pay the standard road user charge.

“The aim is to provide a fair and reasonable resolution for any inadvertent delays that might occur during this transition phase.”