CORNWALL Council continue to lose revenue as ticket machines remain out of order across car parks in the Duchy.

Reports of car park ticket machines being ‘out of order’ has caused concern due to machines not being emptied or broken. The majority of machines in council-owned car parks have had issues due to the contractor (G4S), not fulfilling their contractual obligations.

Cabinet member for transport, Phillip Desmonde admitted in an email to other councillors that the situation could take some time to resolve as G4S were experiencing staff shortages. In the email he explained that the majority of machines were out of order due to obligations not being met and that a meeting was being held (last week) to discuss the impact it had on the public. Parking manager, Craig Taylor confirmed the company had been struggling to provide enough staff, only have four as opposed to the usual 15 members.

However, a spokesperson from Cornwall Council confirmed that the authority are working to help curb the issue, with the majority of payment machines now working and about 20% of machines affected.? Also that machines continue to be emptied where possible and the Council are trying to ensure at least one machine in each car park is operational.

Despite the commitment from the Council, Post area car parks continue to have issues. One area that remains affected is Bude. The town’s information centre confirmed that problems from the summer are yet to be remedied leaving the area with limited ticket machines. They explained: “We have had lots of issues over the summer, all of our ticket machines got vandalised therefore they haven’t been working over the summer period”

“One of the machines is working, the other two are not. The company who empties the machines is short staffed.”

They added: “I think that the Wharf car park is out of order at the moment, but that’s to do with the Town Council.”

Despite ticket machines in Launceston now working, locals and visitors have suffered problems previously with the issue. The Post spoke to a member of the public last week whilst at Race Hill car park in Launceston. They said: “I’ve had no issues with the long story car park on Race Hill, however the short stay one down the bottom was out of order for a while, which was annoying as you can’t use a ticket from the long stay for the short stay. I do think its a bit silly though you can still get a ticket even if the machine isn’t working”

She added: “It was nice not having to pay through COVID, but I don’t mind paying now as I think this car park is good value for money.

“I think contactless would be a good idea especially with COVID as the machines can be a breeding ground for it.”

In response to the problem Cornwall Council advise users to use other methods of payment where possible. A spokesperson said: “Car park users are advised to use pay-by-phone or pay-by-app services where available. However, we understand that some drivers may be unable to use this service and enforcement action will only be taken if payment machines were operational at the time of parking.”