DRIVERS 'ANGRY' ABOUT APP-ONLY CAR PARKING

Withdrawal of coin-operated machines leaves apps as the sole option

- JOHN EVANS

Another British town has had most of its coin-operated on-street parking machines decommissioned in favour of smartphone payment apps, despite widespread complaints that these are expensive and unreliable.

In the past month, two-thirds of the parking machines in Guildford town centre have been disabled and had notices taped to them advising motorists to pay using the RingGo app.

Surrey County Council said the decision was due to ageing machines, adding: “It costs more to collect cash and maintain many of the machines than they collect in income.”

However, not all motorists are happy. Autocar spoke to one driver as she struggled to use one of the new machines in the town.