Jayne Phillips from Strood set up a campaign to abolish the Dart Charge
08:41, 28 August 2018
updated: 15:21, 28 August 2018
A mum has set up a campaign to abolish the Dart Charge.
Fares will increase for account holders from £1.67 to £2 per trip at the start of October.
Motorists reacted with fury after the rise which has come 15 years after the crossing was meant to have become free.
Jayne Phillips, of Fountain Road, Strood, was one of those outraged by the increase and after seeing a number of other people on social media complaining about it, she decided to set up a petition to get rid of the charge altogether.
The 52-year-old said: “I saw on Facebook about the charges and joined the discussion about it. Everyone wanted to moan but nobody wanted to do anything about it so I decided to start the petition.”
The online campaign has managed to get 6,700 signatures in just one week, but the part time administrator is determined to get more.
She added: “I just want to make a stand and be heard. It is totally ridiculous, they have well and truly got the money they need to maintain it and it’s just not right to keep making us pay.
“We pay enough on road tax and everything else, we shouldn’t have to pay extortionate prices to cross a bridge.”
Spokesman for Highways England, Howard Rhodes, said more than 55 million vehicles travel over the crossing meaning there is an ongoing need to maintain it.
