A petition to increase the time drivers have to pay the Dart Charge has been set up.

You currently have a day to pay the fee to use the Dartford Crossing between Kent and Essex or face a hefty fine.

Currently car drivers must pay £2.50, while those in vans, lorries or buses must pay £3 or £6 for buses.

If no payment is made within 24 hours a fine of £70 is imposed, which is halved if paid within 14 days or increased to £108 if not paid within 28 days.

"The time allowed to pay for the crossing is too short, it has been set up this way to rip off the drivers by issuing fines for late payments" — Krzysztof Gorak

Krzysztof Gorak says that initial window isn't long enough and is now campaigning to have it increased to 72 hours.

Writing on the government's petition site he said: "The time allowed to pay for the crossing is too short, it has been set up this way to rip off the drivers by issuing fines for late payments. The time to pay the charge should be extended to minimum 72 hours."

Earlier this year we reported that more than £53 million in fines has been generated since toll booths were removed at the Dartford Crossing in November 2014.

Figures given to online motoring publication Carbuyer by Highways England under the Freedom of Information Act showed 7.7m notices have been issued since the tolls were removed.

According to Highways England’s annual accounts in the 2015/16 financial year £53.1m worth of enforcement income was generated by motorists who failed to pay the toll.

The figure is almost a third of the crossing’s £161m annual income, which rose by almost £62m on the previous year.

It was also revealed more than 200,000 bailiffs were sent to debtors' houses last year.

Proceeds from the crossing are said to be passed to government and are ring-fenced for transport projects.

At the time Highways England spokesman Howard Rhoades said: “Dart Charge has removed a major source of congestion at the Dartford Crossing, and is giving drivers more flexibility about how and when they pay the crossing charge.

“More than 95% of drivers are paying their Dart Charge on time, comparing well to any other similar scheme worldwide.

"It is only fair to these drivers that non-payment is enforced, and we try to do this fairly.

“We are absolutely clear that drivers using the Dartford Crossing need to pay their Dart Charge, but we try and offer drivers maximum opportunity to avoid a penalty.

"For example, all first offenders are offered the opportunity to pay their outstanding crossing charges and cancel their penalties.”

Mr Gorak's petition is set to run until 2018 and can be seen here.

It has currently been signed by nine people but it is early days and if it reaches 10,000 signatures parliament has to respond while 100,000 names would trigger a debate.