Pay-by-phone to park in Bedford

Residents in Bedford and visitors to town may have noticed the new signage on the pay and display parking ticket machines advertising the facility now available to enable you to pay by phone for parking. I launched the 'RinGo' scheme at Melbourne Street Car Park last week, and have had some good feedback so far from residents who have used the service. The purpose of this is simply to make paying for parking easier and more convenient, whether you are using one of the Council-run car parks or on-street parking. Payment can even be made via an iPhone app (other smartphones are available!).

Simple instructions are available on the ticket machines, but very simply, you just need to go through a brief registration the first time you visit and then you can make payments very swiftly and conveniently each time you park by ringing 01234 813814, without having to worry if you've got enough change for the machine! The option to pay by cash remains unchanged, of course. There is a 20 pence charge for using the pay-by-phone facility, to cover the additional costs of the scheme which would otherwise be borne by all taxpayers.

The system is already up and running successfully in other parts of the country, and I am pleased that we are introducing the service here and making it easier for residents and visitors to park in and around the town.