Dartford Crossing congestion will be eased by a new safety system introduced next month, according to Highways England.

The company will install the system, which it says will ‘help improve traffic flow’, on the weekend of 13-14 June.

The Dartford Tunnel will be partially closed overnight that weekend, although one tunnel will remain open.

The safety system will identify and stop oversized vehicles, or those carrying dangerous goods, from entering the tunnels.

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It will also enable dangerous goods vehicles to be escorted through the tunnels safely and stop traffic in the event of an incident in the tunnels.

Project director Nigel Gray said: “This new safety system is vital for the safe operation of the tunnels and will enable us to remove the old payment barriers for good.

“It will mean a significant change to the road layout, so I advise drivers to take extra care and pay extra attention to all signs and signals, especially for the first few times they use the crossing following the change.”

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Under the new system, vehicles carrying hazardous loads will be directed to different lanes or routes, and if they do not follow instructions they will be blocked by barriers.

When a restricted vehicle is detected travelling northbound, the signals will turn to red and the barriers will lower to bring traffic to a stop.

All drivers must follow instructions on road signs, keep within speed limits, watch out for traffic signals and be prepared to stop if a red light shows.

Dart Charge was first introduced in November last year, and Highways England say the full benefits should be seen by this summer, when final road layouts changes are completed.