There is a flat rate of £1 for car drivers who use the crossing

Since 2002, £1m of the £50m collected from the Dartford Crossing toll each year is earmarked for transport improvements in north Kent.

Dartford MP Howard Stoate wants more of the money to benefit the area to make up for the pollution and congestion.

The Department for Transport said the £1m on top of other grants for transport was a "generous settlement".

'Significant discount'

Mr Stoate said: "I do not think 2% is enough to compensate the people in north Kent for the increase in traffic congestion and pollution that they have suffered and I want significant extra money.

"I would like it to be more like £5m rather than £1m so we can have dome genuine improvements in traffic and pollution management so the people of Dartford feel like they have got something back from the toll.

"I am also asking that people living in the area should not have to pay full price.

Mr Stoate says north Kent residents should pay less at the crossing

"People who either work or have to take children to school across the bridge or tunnel every day I think should be given a significant discount."

A spokesman for the Department for Transport (DfT) said the authorities in Thurrock and Kent each received £1m of additional funding from the toll revenue.

This was on top of the grant given to all local authorities for transport from the government.

"It was a generous settlement to get an extra £1m," he said.

The DfT spokesman said: "Regular users of the crossing can get a a discount of 7.5% if they apply for a Dart-Tag which makes the journey cheaper."

A decision to stop charging motorists for the tunnel and bridge was dropped about a year-and-half ago by the government.

It said the toll was needed to stop even more traffic using the crossing.