Taxpayers could face an estimated £30,000 bill to overhaul Bradford Council’s 150 parking machines to cope with new 5p and 10p coins.
The different coinage is being introduced in January as part of an exercise by the Royal Mint and the Treasury aimed at saving up to £8 million a year.
Every pay and display machine in the city will have to be adapted because the new steel coins, with a nickel plating, will be ten per cent thicker than the ones they replace.
A Bradford Council spokesman confirmed that it had spent £109,000 on 50 pay and display machines which can take the new coins, but would not comment on the estimated £30,000 cost of upgrading existing machines until they had completed talks with suppliers.
Up to 50 of the Council’s machines are supplied by Parkeon, which is believed to be the only manufacturer able to supply the upgrades needed.
Thirteen of the firm’s machines are used by Bradford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Parkeon estimate that it could cost £200 to adapt each machine, meaning a possible £30,000 bill for the Council if its other suppliers, Cale Briparc and Metric, charge the same prices for retuning or reprogramming their products.
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