January 18, 2023 4.30 pm This story is over 17 months old

Shoppers back Lincoln car park ‘plagued by problems’

There have been issues with the lifts and payments
Lincoln Central is the city's busiest car park | Photo: LDRS/The Lincolnite

Lincoln’s Central Car Park is still preferred by shoppers, despite a councillor describing it as being “plagued by problems”.

One set of lifts is currently closed, and the machines temporarily stopped processing payments recently.

Councillor David Clarkson (Conservative) asked a full council meeting: “Why is it still facing all these problems seven years after opening?”

The council defended the town centre car park, which has just had its busiest year to date, and shoppers seem to agree with them.

Councillor Neil Murray (Labour), the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, said: “I don’t recognise the description of it being ‘plagued by problems.

One set of lifts are currently out of order | Photo: LDRS/The Lincolnite

“The Central Car Park is incredibly popular, I use it myself. December was absolutely jammed, and brought the council lots of revenue which can be spent on services.”

He added that the transaction problems were due to a system update. Council officers are asking if this could be done at the less busy times in future to reduce the risk of disruption.

Lincoln shoppers said that despite recent issues, they still preferred the car park.

“I’ve noticed that the lifts near the Cornhill haven’t been working for at least three weeks, which is annoying if you’ve parked on the second floor,”  Mr Hicks said.

“The car park’s just convenient though, and there’s nowhere else round here to park. If you’re looking to park free of charge, you have to go a long way down Tritton Road.

There was a recent issue with parking machines not processing payments | Photo: LDRS/The Lincolnite

“The charges went up recently and it’s getting a bit expensive, but it’s still the best option and lots of people use it.”

Another shopper said: “I could see how the lifts would be a problem if you had a pushchair or wheelchair, but there are other ones working near the bus station.

“I never park anywhere else – you walk out the door and you’re straight into town.”

Another shopper said: “I don’t see any problems with it, it’s great.”

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