Almost £5m has been taken in Dartford Crossing deposits and kept by the Department for Transport, a BBC investigation has revealed.

The money came from “one-off customer payments” from 2014 onwards, when toll booths on the crossing were removed and online charging came into force.

National Highways said customers were “made aware at the time of payment that the credit will be valid for 12 months”, says the BBC, but it also acknowledged that it had changed this system and the one for Dart Charge account holders in 2021 and would now “automatically refund” people.

Financial accounts for the Dartford Crossing road charging scheme for 2022-23, external show that of the £5.3m collected from these pre-paid deposits, £4.9m had been retained by the Department for Transport.

The report revealed £300,000 had been refunded and a further £100,000 set aside for claims, with the remainder referred to as “Net Income”.