Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions in the last 12 months the Dartford Crossing has been closed; and what the cause was of each such closure.

The Dartford Crossing consists of two northbound tunnels and the southbound Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. In the last 12 month period there were a total of 14 occasions when the crossing was fully closed either northbound or southbound.

There were six bridge closures (four due to high winds, one due to a police led incident and one due to a suicide), four tunnel closures (one due to problems with the Traffic Safety System, one due to problems with the reporting tool for fire safety and two due to car fires) and four closures of the carriageway leading up to the crossing due to police led incidents.