A NEW service provider (Conduent) will soon become responsible for vehicle identification, payment processing and account management on the Dartford crossing and residents and motorists are being reminded of what they need to do.

Account holders will need to re-validate their payment cards from 28 July. This includes Pay as You Go customers.

A statement from National Highways says: "We have written directly to affected customers. There will be easy to follow instructions when customers log into their account. If no action is taken crossings will not be automatically paid due to invalid card payment details, which may result in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued.

"National Highways will be issuing further reminders in due course, together with messages on social media to highlight the need for customers to take action on their accounts. Whilst they recognise that this may be an inconvenience to existing customers, their communication campaigns and easy to follow online instructions aim to reduce the impact."

Helen Watkinson, Head of Road User Charging, Dart Charge, said: "We are really excited about the changes to Dart Charge. We have worked hard to design a customer centric service with the new suppliers, really putting the customer at the heart of our design. Whilst there are improvements from day one, we have further exciting improvements in the pipeline to further enhance the service offer and offer customers more flexibility.

"We will announce further changes as they come online. We thank our customers for their feedback which has helped to design the new service and look forward to continuing that customer relationship to further improve the service. Customers can leave feedback and comments on the website: https://pay-dartford-crossing-charge.service.gov.uk/Home"