THE last phase of a major upgrade to the Tamar Tag system will be taking place starting today and will mean that the website goes out of action from 10pm.

Users are being asked to check their accounts beforehand and top up if necessary.

The work is expected to be finished by Wednesday night.

Tamar Crossings operates a pre-paid electronic tolling system, TamarTag, at both the Tamar Bride and the Torpoint Ferry, and there are approximately 55,000 TamarTag accounts in use. Around 60% of all crossings are paid for using TamarTag and in peak periods that proportion is nearer 80%.

During the past 12 months new equipment has been progressively installed in the toll booths at the Tamar Bridge in readiness for the launch of the upgraded system. This has included introducing an option for contactless card payments.

Work has also taken place to upgrade the system on the Torpoint Ferry, with the improved technology providing ferry collectors with new faster and lighter toll equipment, and access to the latest available balance for tag accounts rather than taking up to 24 hours for it to show. Work is also continuing on developing a contactless card payment option at the ferries.

The last big step in the upgrade is the transfer of account holder information to the new system and connecting banking and payment services to the new system.

“While account holders can use their tags during this transition period, they will not be able to top up their accounts,” said a spokesperson.

“Users paying by cash or using the contactless card payment option at the bridge will not be affected by this work.”

The Tamar Tag section of the website is expected to reopen on Thursday morning.

In the coming months, account holders will be able to select an option to automatically top up their accounts when their balances drop below the low balance level, there will be an automatic replacement system for older tags before they fail, and applications will be able to be made fully online.