Pay and Display Machines No Longer Take 5p and 10p

Submitted by edg on Sun, 1 Jan '12 10.02am

From today, changes to the width of 5p and 10p coins will mean that you can't use them for any of Edinburgh's Pay and Display parking ticket machines.

The Treasury has introduced the new coinage as the cost of the copper used in existing coinage has risen. The new nickel-plated stainless steel coins are marginally thicker than the old version and will no longer be compatible with Edinburgh's 1200 parking ticket machines.

The Council says that upgrading ticket machines would cost too much.

"The price of parking per hour will remain the same but paying £360,000 to change all our machines made no sense," explained Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, Transport Convenor.

"I recognise the inconvenience this may cause, but in the circumstances it's the better option for drivers and taxpayers in general."

The smallest coin now accepted will be 20p.Drivers can also pay for parking without coins using RingGo cashless parking. All that is required is a debit/credit card and a mobile phone or PC.

The price of parking per hour will remain the same.