Transport chief Patrick McLoughlin has defended the new Dartford Crossing free flow system after 15% failed to pay their toll.

The secretary of state made the remarks at a visit to the crossing today to see the work being done to remove the barriers.

Over two million crossings have been made so far since the new system was introduced, where drivers must now pay prior to crossing or by midnight the following day.

When questioned on whether he thought it was acceptable that such a high number of vehicles had made it through without yet paying, he told KentOnline: “Of course it’s not acceptable. It’s not acceptable that anybody doesn’t pay, and we will be after those people and so will the body that is doing this for us. We will be after them to make sure they pay their charge.

“There was bound to be some non-payments in the early days because we are going from a system where you have no choice but to pay [at the toll], to a system where you have to pay in advance.

“Don’t forget that in April we were the first government to introduce charging for foreign lorries coming into this country, and to that the compliance has been over 93% and we will be after those people that don’t pay.”

The minister for transport was also positive about the ongoing traffic problems occurring on roads surrounding the crossing, most notably Bob Dunn Way.

He said: “I think Bob Dunn Way has improved a lot actually. I think there were a lot of problems right at the start.

"I remember Bob Dunn well, he was a great advocate for the area and I think he would look back on what has happened now as something that has improved.

“You don’t get big infrastructure changes and the kind of measures that we are taking on this crossing without it being problematic for a while.

“What I hope people are saying is that yes, there have been lessons learned and there had to be some realignments of roads and there is still more work that needs to be done – but now we’ve got a better system.

“Local businesses now have an access to the tunnel and bridge which is the same as residents, and that is a very big move in the right direction.

“I am told that on average crossing the bridge is nine minute quicker, and going through the tunnel is four minutes quicker. If you add that up by 43 million vehicles a year that are using this crossing in the charging period, I think that is a huge time saving.”

The tolls are expected to be removed by late April, according to Mr McLoughlin, with the entire project thought to reach completion by the end of 2015.

Also there was Dartford MP Gareth Johnson. After the visit, he said: “There has been a noticeable improvement in traffic flows since the new system was introduced.

“We had some teething problems with computer systems and congestion on University Way which have now largely been tackled. We should see further improvements in the flows of traffic when the remaining toll booths are removed in the spring.

“No-one is claiming that this system will end any chance of there being traffic jams but it will alleviate the worst of the congestion that Dartford has suffered for too long.”