Brighton resident parking permits go fully digital

Brighton street parking permits have gone digital

Resident parking permits for people living in Brighton and Hove have now gone fully digital.

From Monday vehicle owners living in the East Sussex city will no longer receive paper copies to display in their windscreens, with enforcement officers using a digital record to check for illegal parking.

Opposition politicians on the city council have expressed concern over how residents without internet access or online skills will be affected.

But the leader of the Labour-run council said the system would crack down on fraud, with applications still possible by post.

"As much as perhaps 9% of UK residents have no digital skills, so why make it mandatory?" said Alistair McNair, leader of the Conservative group.

"Illegal parking is a problem. If there's no paper parking permit, how will residents know the car is parked illegally? How will they be able to report it?"

Mr McNair said a process whereby people unable to apply online could have their permits processed in person by council staff might "not be that convenient" because of opening hours, and could be "a faff".

But Trevor Muten, cabinet member for transport and city infrastructure, said: "It just makes it much easier for people to apply. The application process can still be done by post, however the permit itself will still become digital.

"One thing that has been reported by enforcement officers is some degree of widespread fraud of paper permits, and this removes that."

Parking enforcement officers will now refer to an online database to check if a vehicle has a permit

Residents of Brighton and Hove gave a mixed reaction to the change to BBC Radio Sussex.

Pam Sykes said she "didn't see any reason why it can't work".

But Noreen O'Sullivan said she did "not like the idea of it".

"I think there would be problems with people who are not very good using digital. I don't agree with it," she said.

And Ty Galvin said it was "quite concerning" because of "digital exclusion for older people. It's important we think of the older generation.

"A lot of older people are not capable of working with that."