Highways England has announced a new safety system to help ease congestion at the Dartford Crossing will go live next month.

The scheme, brought in as part of Dart Charge, aims to speed up journeys by preventing cars from stopping to pay the toll.

It will come into effect on Saturday, June 13. Tunnel closures will be required overnight during the go-live weekend to introduce the system.

To minimise disruption, one tunnel will remain open at all times.

The system will identify, stop and turn around vehicles that pose a safety risk because they are oversized or carry hazardous loads before they enter the tunnels.

Dangerous goods vehicles will also be safely escorted through the tunnels while vehicles will be stopped from entering in the event of an incident.

Dart Charge project director Nigel Gray said: "This new safety system is vital for the safe operation of the tunnels and will enable us to remove the old payment barriers for good.

"It will mean a significant change to the road layout, so I advise drivers to take extra care and pay extra attention to all signs and signals, especially for the first few times they use the crossing following the change."

Dart Charge was introduced in November with a series of planned changes to the road layout taking place this year.

The final phase is expected to be completed this summer.

Highways England’s video and leaflet explain how the new tunnel traffic safety system will operate.