May 16, 2014 5.10 pm This story is over 118 months old

Lincoln council keeps £67k from unreturned parking change

Car parking over-vend: The City of Lincoln Council made £67,000 in one year by not offering change to motorists in its car parks.
The Tentercroft Street car park from the City of Lincoln Council. Photo: File/The Lincolnite

The City of Lincoln Council made £67,000 in one year by not offering change to motorists in its car parks.

Cash obtained from 56 machines in 20 car parks across Lincoln amounted to an over-vend that represented 1.8% of parking receipts in 2013.

The city council said that all over-vending is re-invested back into their car parks through refurbishment and repair works.

They also claimed that the figures have more than halfed in the last three years, with more transactions being made using Pay by Phone and credit and debit cards.

The figures, obtained by a Freedom of Information request by the Daily Mirror, showed that councils made £30million nationally by using ticket machines that state ‘no change given’.

The request was submitted to 348 local authorities, of which 79 responded. Lincoln was fifth in this ranking

Wiltshire Council came top after they kept £730,000 in unreturned change over three years.

John Bibby, Director of Housing and Community Services, said: “Receipts from customer over-vend in City of Lincoln Council car parks has dropped by more than half over the past three years.

“We have achieved this by increasing the opportunity for our customers to purchase tickets by debit card, credit card and pay by phone.

“We have also made it easier for those who pay by cash by making almost all of our tariffs divisible by 50 pence.

“Machines which dispense change are large and complex. This makes them expensive to purchase and they must be emptied more regularly to make them less vulnerable to break-ins.

“However, when the contract on our current machines is due for renewal we will investigate the possibility of introducing these.

“The council fully understands any frustrations customers may have. This is why we actively encourage people to pay by phone and are looking at installing pay on exit facilities at our more widely-used car parks, ensuring customers only pay for the amount of time parked.”