Parking machines removed as car parks go cashless

Parking machines are being removed by a council from the end of March as it moves to cashless payments.

Slough Borough Council is phasing out car park and on-street payment machines over the next three to four months.

Drivers will have to pay using the RingGo payment system, which will cost an additional 20p, using an app or phone number.

Anyone still wishing to pay by cash or card will need to go to a nearby PayPoint store and pay using the car park code and their number plate as the reference.

The council said the additional 20p added to the parking charge for using RingGo was a "convenience fee".

It said, last year, 3% of all parking payments were made by cash and 19% of car park payments were made by card.

Advanced warning signs will be going up in each car park before the machines are removed.

The first to be removed on 30 March will be at Albert Street, Bishops Road, High Street, Park Street, Sandringham Court, Waterside Drive, Windsor Road, Buckingham Gardens car park and Burnham Lane car park.

Highways and transport councillor Paul Kelly said: "Being able to pay quickly via the app or by phone will be more efficient and reliable, with no machine maintenance required, and the car parking enforcement officers will have access to the live data, which means their patrols can be more targeted.

"There is an alternative for those still wanting to pay using cash or card, with multiple PayPoints close by to the parking provision."

A consultation ran last year, with 12 responses received, mainly concerned about people without cards or apps.

The changes will be monitored once implemented.