Car parks took £5,500 on day of free parking

More than 1,600 people paid a total of over £5,500 for parking in Hereford on an afternoon when it was supposed to be free, a freedom of information request has revealed.

From noon onwards on Saturday 8 February, no payment for parking was required at most Herefordshire Council-owned parking spaces in the city.

But the machines were not disabled, meaning people could still buy tickets, and the council's new JustPark app was still operational.

The council said the machines were still accepting payments on the day for people who wanted to park beyond the times of the promotion.

The offer was made as part of the city business improvement district's annual Love Hereford event, which aims to encourage people to come into the city and support local businesses, and was widely advertised - including on parking ticket machines.

It covered council-owned car parks and on-street pay-and-display spaces, including the Maylord Orchards and Old Market car parks, but excluding Friars Street car park.

Over the course of the afternoon, drivers made 1,607 payments, both by card and cash at the machines and via the app, totalling £5,510.60 - an average of £3.43 each.

The council said: "The reason to not change the machines directly to not accept any money was for people parking outside the event parameters (before or after, or for longer, or for longer tickets)."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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