Local councillors have expressed concerns about parking in and around Coalville after the North West Leicestershire District Council's pay machines were out of order this week.

It meant anyone using the car parks had to pay using their mobile phone or via an app.

But some councillors are worried that those not familiar with new technology - or without smartphones - may not have been able to pay.

And they want assurances this will not happen again.

Cllr Peter Moult, shadow portfolio holder for communities at NWLDC, told Coalville Nub News: "Many people across the district will have experienced issues with making car parking payments in district council car parks last week, after the council pay machines were out of order for several days. 

"This meant that customers wishing to park in car parks across Coalville and Ashby were expected to pay for their parking via Pay by Phone, either via the app, or by calling the number on the machine to pay over the telephone.

"Feedback from NWLDC is that Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) and Pay by Phone data shows that many people did successfully pay via this method. 

"The concern however is regarding customers who were not able to understand that this was the expected method of payment or were unable to use this system.

"It cannot, and should not, be assumed that everyone has a mobile phone, and we certainly cannot be sure that everyone is able to download and pay for parking on the relevant app. 

"My labour colleague, Alison Morley, has therefore asked whether it is the case that NWLDC plan to cancel any fines which may have accrued during this period, particularly if someone states that they were unaware or unable to pay. Otherwise, it may mean that people who are not digitally confident, or may not have a mobile phone, are, in effect, penalised for something which is outside their control. We are yet to receive a response to this question.

"The residents of North West Leicestershire should be confident that they can park their car and easily pay for their parking, without worries that they will be late for appointments and/or receive parking fines. 

Cllr Moult said not everyone is familar with smartphone technology. Photo: Dreamstime.com

"For this reason, as the Shadow Portfolio Holder for Communities, I will be asking questions to clarify how this problem occurred in the first place and seeking assurances that it will not happen again."

But Paul Sanders, Head of Community Services at NWLDC, responded:

"We identified an issue with the parking payment machines in our car parks in Coalville and Ashby on March 13 and it was very quickly traced to an issue with the software that processes chip and PIN and contactless card payments.

"This issue also affected payment machines in other districts in the county.

"Officers worked with an engineer from the parking machine provider to quickly roll out a fix to all 10 payment machines in our district, which was completed by the morning of March 17. 

"Payments via the PayByPhone app, online or over the phone weren't affected during this time, and we'd like to thank everyone who used those alternative methods to pay for their parking whilst we worked with the provider to resolve the card payment issue.

"Only a very small number of people needed our help to make their parking payments at the time, and so far we haven't been made aware by the county council, who process our parking tickets, of any challenges to penalty charge notices issued during the outage."