CRITICS of Bournemouth council’s cashless parking switch have been told “it is time they caught up with the 21st century”, by the councillor in charge of parking.

Cllr Mike Greene, cabinet member for transport, said the council “would not want to consult” on the matter because “it makes sense for council tax payers and businesses”.

This response came despite a number of resident letters to this newspaper questioning the change, which has forced those using council car parks to pay with a card or their phone at many prominent sites.

The policy will see up to 100 cash machines swapped for card only terminals in a £390,000 investment over the next three years. Some cashless meters have already been installed.

“There are always going to be some people who resist change. I am afraid it is time they caught up with the 21st century,” said Cllr Greene.

“As far as the council tax payer is concerned, there was a lot of damage, there was an increasing amount of theft (from coin meters), which either cost the council tax payer or the insurance company a lot of money, there was a significant cost to send people round to collect the cash and there was cash handling fees as well.

“The coin machines also have a much greater likelihood of being out of order.

“The fact is this makes sense for residents, makes sense for businesses and it makes sense for the council tax payer. We would not want to consult on something like that,” he added.

Cllr Greene said he did not accept safety fears raised by residents who said they had been left confused attempting to make sense of the cashless meters.

He said drivers could pay from their car with pay by phone or use a card without having to expose cash in their wallet or purse.

The senior Conservative councillor also said the whole country was moving towards cashless parking.

However, figures obtained by a Freedom of Information request suggest a significant number of people in Bournemouth had chosen to pay with cash rather than the alternative pay by phone arrangement before the council’s decision to start removing coin machines.

In the 2017-18 financial year, there were 2,088,067 pay and display transactions in Bournemouth car parks generating a revenue of £7,109,472.10.

This compared with just 748,053 cashless parking transactions yielding £3,694,903.80.

“Around 20 per cent of people do not carry cash at all, let alone coins,” said Cllr Greene.

“That is predicted to increase dramatically over the next few years. At the same time, 96 per cent of people carry a phone and more than 96 per cent of people carry a credit or debit card.

“The new machines are far more inclusive than the old ones and people without smart phones can call the number, which is on the machines."