Get back at those parking meters!

Change doesn’t usually spend a long time in my purse, but for the last few months I’ve been clinging on to my old one pound coins for as long as I can. And I’m probably not the only one as it’s been revealed that one in five councils are yet to change their parking metres to accept the new £1 coin. So just like me, drivers up and down the country have been flailing about at car parks in a panic… Should I leave a note to explain why I haven’t paid? Bugger, where’s a pen?!

Apparently, some drivers have been sticking their new one pound coins to their dashboards to show that they would have paid if only they could. It’s not surprising when you consider the parking tickets that could merrily be plonked under your windscreen wiper when you return. It’s clearly unfair and thankfully the industry is speaking out against it with the AA asking people to write to their MPs and complain on Facebook, Twitter etc.

President of the AA, Edmund King, puts the blame firmly in the council’s hands saying, “If councils are having difficulties because their contractors are under pressure, or because replacement machines or software have yet to be delivered, the driver shouldn’t be blamed.”

King goes on to say that the car parks should be free until the problem is sorted out. Something I wholeheartedly agree with. There’s little that can sour a lovely summer’s day trip than to come back to a parking ticket that feels even meaner than usual.