Tyne Tunnel fine issued to driver 300 miles away

A driver has been fined for not paying the toll for a road 300 miles from her home in a region she has never visited.

Julie Barnett, from Kent, was fined for failing to pay the Tyne Tunnel's £1.90 fee but said she had "never been north of the Thames", although she had "heard of Ant and Dec".

The tunnel's new cashless payment system has been branded an "absolute disaster" after months of criticism.

Tunnel operator TT2 has apologised and agreed to cancel Mrs Barnett's fine.

The 62-year-old first received an Unpaid Toll Charge Notice (UTCN) in December but had to search for the tunnel online to see where it was.

She wrote to TT2 explaining the car in the picture associated with the fine was not hers and received a letter of apology on 10 December.

But, in January, Mrs Barnett received a final payment notice.

She wrote to TT2 again but got no reply and was then sent an enforcement letter from debt collectors saying she owed £176.90.

Mrs Barnett, who lives on the Isle of Sheppey, said TT2 "make it easy to pay, but not easy to contact them".

"It has all been quite distressing," she added.

After being contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, TT2 said it had found two UTCNs linked to Mrs Barnett's car - one that was cancelled in December and another that had been escalated to enforcement levels - and would cancel her fine.

Thousands of people have signed a petition criticising "unacceptable" errors with the tunnel's new cashless payment system and the number of motorists hit with fines.

Drivers failing to pay the fee by midnight the following day incur a £60 penalty which increases to £100, plus the original toll charge and extra administrative costs, if not settled within 28 days.

A North East Joint Transport Committee meeting this month heard the number of fines had dropped to about 55,000 a month.

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