Council to Scrap Parking Top-up Fee

Motorists will no longer pay a premium for extending their parking tickets in the town's car parks.

The RingGo scheme was introduced by the District Council last year and allows people to pay for their parking by phone using a credit or debit card, rather than by cash at a machine. The service was introduced to solve the twin problems of motorists having no change or needing to cut their trip short because their ticket was running out. However, using the scheme cost motorist a premium of 20 pence.

From next week, motorists will now be able to top up their parking time without the administration charge.

Paul Phillips, Executive member for economic development, said: "It can be difficult to second guess how long you want to stay in town and there's nothing worse than having to cut short an enjoyable visit to rush back to your car. As long as you have access to a phone, this is no longer a problem. Cancelling the RingGo transaction fee will save money for motorists and it's good for businesses as customers don't need to rush away to get back to their car."