Drivers are hit with higher parking charges for paying in cash by Lib Dem council in move branded ‘discriminatory’

• The RAC hit out at the measure and called it ‘discriminatory’ 

Drivers are being hit with higher parking charges for paying in cash by a Lib Dem council. 

Sutton Council, in south London, sparked widespread fury and was urged by the Government to reconsider its policy, while the RAC described the measure as ‘discriminatory’. 

The local authority increased its car park prices in June for people using machines to pay, however froze them for those who use an app or automated telephone line, analysis by the PA news agency found. 

The council said this was in response to the rising cost of providing the machines. Following the change, using the borough’s council-owned car parks for an hour costs £3 if paid for at a machine but just £2 via the RingGo app or phone service. 

A spokeswoman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, headed up by Michael Gove, said: ‘This practice unfairly penalises those who choose to pay at parking machines, and we ask that Sutton Council reconsiders their policy. 

The RAC described the measure as ‘discriminatory’

Nearly a fifth of drivers who responded to a recent RAC survey said their local authority had either scrapped parking payment machines or was consulting on doing so

‘Councils have a duty to ensure that they do not discriminate in their decision making against older people or those with vulnerabilities.’ 

Conservative MP Greg Smith, who is a member of the Transport Select Committee, said: ‘Councils should not seek to rip off those who still want to use a pay and display machine. 

‘Whilst the vast majority of us now use parking apps, there are many who can’t or don’t want to.’ 

Nearly a fifth of drivers who responded to a recent RAC survey said their local authority had either scrapped parking payment machines or was consulting on doing so. 

Caroline Abrahams, a director at charity Age UK, said: #Charging considerably more for parking if you pay with cash unfairly penalises people who aren’t online or who don’t have a smartphone, hitting older generations particularly hard. 

‘There are hundreds of thousands of older people who depend on their cars but who don’t use computers. ‘Hiking their parking costs is a disincentive to them getting out and about, and engaging fully in society.’ 

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