'Richest' Dartford Crossing makes £92 million a year

The 2,872-metre long crossing isn't the most expensive, but it still makes the most money in the entire country, pipping the M6 Toll which makes £90 million annually.

The Dartford Crossing charges motorists £2.50 for a car and £6 for a lorry, which adds up as an estimated 58,400,000 drivers make the trip across every year.

Over 100,000 people use the Highways England operated Dartford Crossing every day, making it a lucrative source of money for the government.

With the UK's average salary at £29,900 and the bridge bringing in £92 million, that means that the Dartford Crossing makes 3077 times this in a year.

The Dartford Crossing

The M6 Toll is more than double the cost of its north Kent rival at £6.70 for car drivers, and £12 for lorries, and with 18,200,200 journeys annually it brings in £90 million.

The Mersey Tunnel comes in third on the list, earning £42 million a year.

The new data comes from GoCompare who collated data on the UK's toll roads and bridges, looking at cost per car, to work out which can be crowned the priciest piece of road for commuters.

Keyworkers account for 22% of the working population and many are still commuting via Britain's main roads to get to work each day.

They said that with the vaccine continuing to roll out, freedom of movement is set to increase. As the roads get busier and traffic starts to build, many Brits are likely to opt for the more stress-free route of quieter toll roads.

For the businesses that operate them, toll charges allow them to maintain the roads and pay their staff.

The tolls are often privately owned to save the local councils money, while in some cases a debt needed to be paid off after the building of the road was completed.