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Drivers using the Dartford Crossing are charged every time they pass between Kent and Essex.

This can amount to a lot if you use it regularly.

Any other reality is difficult to imagine but it wasn't always supposed to be this way.

So what was supposed to have happened?

Under the original agreement when the bridge was built, tolling was supposed to stop once it had paid for itself, which was almost 15 years ago.

In February 1999, the government announced the Dartford Crossing would be free of toll charges by the end of 2003.

Motoring organisations - and drivers themselves - welcomed the news.

But in 2001, it was revealed that the government had backtracked out of the initial agreement, and there was outrage from all angles.

When did the charge come in?

The powers to introduce a charge were agreed by Parliament in the Transport Act 2000, and the charge was introduced in 2003 following a consultation exercise.

At the time, the AA Motoring Trust told the BBC the government had broken its promise to scrap the toll.

The trust said the then government pledged to parliament and the AA that the fee would cease when the cost of the crossing had been paid for and a maintenance fund accumulated.

Paul Watters, from the trust, said: "It is no wonder motorists don't trust the way they are taxed and treated by governments.

"The 150,000 drivers who use the Dartford crossing each day have a right to be outraged that they will still have to pay."

The trust said money raised from the tolls would not necessary go to local transport improvements.

It said funds would be used to pay for the 10 years transport plan, which means it could be used for schemes across the country.

A Department for Transport spokesman, said: "Monies raised will only be spent on transport improvements, which will affect motorists."

And in a response to an Freedom of Information Request regarding the continuation of tolls in 2009, the Department for Transport said: "The original intention was to remove tolls when the costs of the Bridge had been recovered.

"However, traffic levels have risen far faster than projected and an earlier study has indicated that removal of toll charges would increase traffic levels by 17 per cent on 2003 levels."

Despite the fact over a decade has passed since the news broke, commuters and public figures alike have remained appalled that the tolls are still in place.

AA president Edmund King told the Evening Standard in 2012: "Long-distance travellers from the UK and Europe, freight, business and regional users have all been sold down the river by successive governments through the unnecessary perpetuation of tolls and lack of future capacity at Dartford.

"Tolling was supposed to pay for the Dartford Bridge and then end, which would have been in 2003. However, it became a nice little earner which raises around £70 million a year."

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He went on: "To keep charges here with the aim of deterring traffic is crazy as the crossing is on one of the most important motorways in Europe, keeping traffic away from London and communities in south east England.

"Ramping up the tolls when the majority of users have no alternative about the time and place they cross the Thames is simply impractical and a bridge too far in road charging."

How much did it cost and how much does it cost now?

After negotiations with the Ministry of Transport, Kent and Essex County Councils first obtained government approval to charge tolls in 1960, before opening.

The toll was originally two shillings and sixpence, equivalent to 12.5p.

The Dartford Tunnel Act 1967 gave Kent and Essex County Councils authority to change the tolls, and in December 1977, the toll was raised from 25p to 35p for cars, 40p to 55p for 2 axle goods vehicles, and 60p to 85p for HGVs.

By 1984, the toll for cars had risen to 60p.

Which all sounds like a small drop in ocean compared to the £2.50 a car is now charged to cross.