Ticket machine broken for months at Swindon car park, frustrated visitors say
People using Prospect Place car park in Old Town say one machine has not worked for months and the other is unreliable
A ticket machine at a car park in Swindon has been out of order for months, according to people who use it.
Visitors to Prospect Place car park in Old Town say the pay station has been left in a poor state, with one machine broken for a long period and the other unreliable.
Swindon Borough Council has confirmed the fault, saying its parking contractor has been unable to source the parts needed to fix it.
Martin Buck, who uses the car park, said the pay station was in a poor condition. He described it as "dirty and overgrown".
"The other machine has had a coin jammed in the slot for several months, making it unusable," he said.
The jammed coin has since been removed. However, as of Monday 21st September, the machine remained out of use, with tape placed over the coin slot.
Graffiti has also been painted on both machines and on the nearby notice board.
People using the car park say the one working machine does not always accept payment or issue a ticket.
Phil, who was using the car park on Monday 21st September, said he visits Old Town regularly.
"One (machine) is closed off, and the other one takes money when it feels like it, it might give you a ticket, it might not," he said.
"Swindon council needs to sort it, because I know that this has been going on for months."
A pay-by-phone option is available at the car park, but not everyone using it feels able to use this method.
Mr and Mrs Wheals, who were also visiting the car park that day, said more payment options were needed.
"We don't all have online banking. There should be all three options available, coins, cards, and online payments," they said.
A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson issued a statement on 22nd September addressing the concerns: "We recognise the broken ticket machine at Prospect Place car park is causing frustration for people and visitors.
"Unfortunately, our current parking contractor has been unable to source the parts required to repair the machine and, while replacing the machine outright has been considered, this would not represent good value for money given that the Council is currently in the process of retendering its parking services contract for our surface level car parks.
"This will see new payment machines installed across our surface level car parks and we expect the new contract to be in place by next spring.
"In the meantime, alternative payment options remain available, including the PayByPhone service, and we continue to monitor the performance of the remaining machine.
"We also acknowledge concerns about the appearance of the area around the pay station and arranged for the vegetation to be cleared this afternoon (22nd September)."