A penny-pinching car park charges policy has backfired, leaving a council with a bill for thousands of pounds.
Maldon District Council introduced new pay and display machines in the late 1990s, requiring car registration numbers to be keyed in before fees were paid.
The move was designed to prevent drivers passing on their parking tickets if they left before their time was up.
But the wheels came off the economising measure when the licence plates system altered several years ago.
The machines do not recognise the registrations of new cars bought since the changeover - and members of the finance and corporate services were on Tuesday night asked to approve spending £55,000 on replacements.
Councillors seemed resigned to the unwelcome expense.
"We have been hoist by our own petard," rueful chairman John Smith said.
Published Thursday January 22, 2004
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