'User-friendly' payment technology upgrade for town

New parking technology is set to be introduced in a Surrey town's car parks, following feedback from residents and visitors, a council said.

Guildford Borough Council said work to install the "new, user-friendly parking technology" would begin on 7 January.

The upgrades to pay-on-foot and pay-and-display machines across the town centre car parks are expected to take a few weeks, it said.

Tunsgate car park on Castle Hill will be first to have new machines installed and will be shut for three days while the work is carried out.

Signage would guide people to alternative car parks while the Tunsgate site was closed, it said, adding that all other car parks would remain open as usual.

The authority said: "This upgrade is in response to feedback from residents and visitors, who have asked for more convenient payment methods to be made available."

Julia McShane, leader of Guildford Borough Council, said the new machines would make parking "quicker and more convenient, with options such as contactless and mobile payments".

"It's a big step forward in making our car parks more accessible now and for the future," she said.

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