Elderly drivers suffer huge blow as cashless parking 'ditched' in major UK city
Elderly motorists could be caught out by major parking rule changes set to hit one of the UK's biggest cities this Autumn.
Older drivers and pensioners could be disproportionately impacted as cash parking is ditched in a major UK city.
Lancaster City Council has been forced to temporarily axe cash parking meters after criminals targeted machines.
A total of 10 machines have been damaged in car parks throughout Lancaster and Morecambe since August.
In each case, cash boxes attached to the machines have been sliced open and the coins inside stolen.
It is estimated the total bill is around £40,000 with a series of machines having to be replaced across the region.
To prevent further theft, officials have made the decision to remove cash boxes and revert to a digital system.
Payments will now only be made through a debit card or via the online RingGo system.
Councillor Jean Parr, cabinet member with responsibility for planning and placemaking stressed that decision-makers had "no other option".
She explained: "We know 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.
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"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."
Recent data from the AA found older drivers rely on cash to pay for parking than other age demographics.
Around 46 percent of drivers say that paying for parking for cash is still their first choice at pay machines.
However, this rises to more than half (56 percent) among motorists older than 65.
Meanwhile, a recent poll from Express.co.uk found there was still widespread dissatisfaction with the concept of contactless parking if it was to be introduced across the UK.
The survey found that a massive 91.79 percent of those polled said councils in Britain should not get rid of cash parking and go completely contactless.
Just 7.6 percent said they did want to see machines go with 0.61 percent unsure either way.
