Parking machines covered amid move to cashless

A number of a town's parking machines have been covered up ahead of their removal as part of an equipment upgrade.

Reading Borough Council said 75 new pay and display machines will be installed around the Berkshire town over the coming weeks.

The machines will allow cashless payments only for on-street parking, using banks cards or mobile payment apps, including the existing RingGo system.

Phil Grant, Reading Borough Council's parking services manager, said he believes the changes will save £35,000 per year.

The transfer to cashless-only payments began on 1 March, after council committee approval on 20 January.

Charges apply to parking in all council car parks, on-street parking bays, as well as long-term parking permits.

The authority said it currently costs £10.67 per cash collection from each machine, amounting to £1,600 a month, which would be reduced to £350 per month under the cashless system, saving the council £15,000 per year.

According to a report by Mr Grant, maintaining each current machine costs the council £266.66 a year - adding up to a total cost of about £44,000 annually.

The new machines will not issue paper tickets but parking enforcement officers will be able to check payments have been made electronically.

The local authority said machines will still accept cash in some areas where "there is proven high demand for this", such as around the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

The move is part of wider parking reforms by the council, including possible emission-based parking tariffs and reducing the number of pay and display machines from 168 to approximately 75.

A six-week statutory consultation on a proposal for emission-based parking charges closed on 30 March, with a final decision due to be made by the authority's traffic management subcommittee on 11 June.

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