MOTORISTS have been warned after a major change was made to how drivers pay for parking.
Councils are reportedly scrapping traditional pay and display machines as mobile phone operators are switching off the 3G data networks which power the meters, according to The Times.
Pay-as-you-go parking machines are set to disappear from city streets, leaving drivers forced to use apps to pay for a ticket.
Brighton and Hove city council will reportedly get rid of its parking machines by May 31, while the London borough of Bromley will do the same by early April.
However, the cost of updating all machines in Bromley, for example, would cost £1 million.
Harrow finished ditching all its machines in January and Enfield plans to have all its meters gone by early April.
Westminster city council has had no pay and display machines since 2019.
Other boroughs which have removed some machines are Richmond, Merton and Barking and Dagenham.
Councils are blaming the cost of changing the meters over to 4G as mobile providers prepare to switch off their 3G networks.
Both Vodafone and EE will turn off their respective 3G networks entirely by the end of 2023, while Three will stop theirs in 2024.
One benefit of using a smartphone app is it often gives users the ability to add extra time to their stay without having to rush back to their vehicle.
There are up to 30 different smartphone apps that are currently used to pay for parking, including ParkMe, Parkopedia, Just Park and PayByPhone.
But these numerous providers usually each require users to key in their contact information as well as their car details – which takes much longer than simply inserting coins or a bank card into a machine.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, told The Times: “The news that we may soon see the end of pay and display parking is disastrous for anyone without a smartphone, including millions of older people who are struggling with the shift away from the coin-in-the-slot payment methods they used throughout their lives.”
Nicholas Bennet, Bromley executive councillor for transport, added: “As a pensioner myself, I appreciate that some people have a problem with modern technology.
“However, we are talking about people who drive a ton and a half of steel, which requires more skill than downloading an app.”
