Transport for London (TfL) are making almost £6,000 from people outside of London driving into the capital and accidentally paying the Congestion Charge.

The data comes from car company, Fixter, who surveyed more than 2,000 people who have driven into London at least once over the past year.

Their survey revealed that a quarter of these people had accidentally paid the Congestion Charge before driving in, when they didn’t need to – giving an extra £5,934 to TfL.

Paul Cowperthwaite, TfL’s director of licensing, regulation and charging, said: “The Congestion Charge is designed to deter people from non-essential driving in central London.

“To ensure people don’t get caught out, we have a map of the zone on our website and all entry and exit points to the charging area are clearly signed.

“This is complemented by advance warning signs and road markings on the approaches to the zone.

“All revenue generated by the Congestion Charge is invested in the capital’s transport infrastructure.”

The study also revealed that over half of people surveyed think congestion charge zones should be better signposted and 78 per cent of people surveyed admitted they got the maximum fine, £160, for forgetting to pay the charge.