Passengers who use Kent's railway services will now be hit with £100 fines if they don't have a ticket.

Southeastern's penalty fares will more than triple as the company seeks to deter fare evasion.

Those travelling without a ticket or with the wrong ticket will now be charged £100, instead of £20.

It is the first increase the company has made since 2005.

If the passenger pays within 21 days the fine will be reduced to £50, plus the cost of a single journey.

The decision was made by the Department for Transport, following a consultation process and aims to encourage people to pay for their ticket before they arrive at the station or do so at the station.

Alicia Andrews, commercial director for Southeastern, said: “The vast majority of our customers do the right thing and pay for their journey before boarding, and we’re grateful to everyone who thinks ahead.

“We have a responsibility to reduce the costs of the railway and bear down on ticketless travel.

"With the fine increasing, it’s a great time to remind people who don’t pay the right fare for their journey that they could end up paying a lot more if they are issued with a penalty fare."

She added: “We offer a choice of ways to buy before you travel – if a customer boards a train without a ticket at a station where the ticket office is open, or there is a working ticket machine; or if they haven’t got a digital ticket, among other reasons, then they may be liable.

"We hope this will encourage more people to be honest and buy the right ticket before they board”.

The company is preparing staff who work at stations and on trains thoroughly for the changes and is committed to ensuring that penalty fares are applied fairly in line with the law.

Southeastern is also assessing how best to check the tickets of younger customers, and is examining the impact of the increasing use of eTickets – which are used on phones and can be bought in advance.

The change will come into affect from next Monday (January 23) and will be across railways in Kent, East Sussex and south east London.