Cash payments will be suspended in many local car parks after a string of thefts and damage to pay and display machines.
Lancaster City Council has announced it will temporarily remove cash payments from most of its car parks after 10 machines were damaged in car parks across Lancaster and Morecambe since the end of August, including four in the last week.
On each occasion the cash boxes attached to the machines were cut open and the coins removed.
The council said it's estimated that the cost of replacing the machines, along with the theft of the coins inside the machines, brings the total loss to the taxpayer to around £40,000.
Here is one of the damaged machines.
To prevent any more machines being damaged while the police investigate the thefts, the council has taken the decision to remove the coin boxes from all of its machines except at St Nics Arcades car park in Lancaster, which is locked overnight.
Customers are instead being asked to pay by card or via the RingGo system.
Councillor Jean Parr, cabinet member with responsibility for planning and placemaking, said: “We know that this decision will be disappointing for those who like to pay by cash, but we have no other option while a gang of thieves is actively targeting our car parks. Each time a machine is damaged there’s a cost to replace it.
"Hopefully the police will be able to catch the culprits and we will be able to resume normal service as soon as possible. In the meantime, we’d ask people to be patient and if anyone has any information about who may be responsible, please contact the police.”
The council has reminded people that paying for parking at all of their pay and display car parks is still required and card payments and RingGo are still available. Non-payment of parking fees may result in a penalty charge notice being issued.
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