Some types of cars could be charged more to park

Liverpool City Council is set to introduce machines that are able to charge according to the type of vehicle

Motorists in Liverpool could one day find themselves paying different parking charges depending on the car they drive.

Liverpool City Council said there could be a time when on-street meters were linked up to a system that charged according to the emissions the vehicle released.

While city leaders stressed it was a "future aspiration", about 80 new meters set to be installed in Liverpool are equipped with the technology to apply the emissions-based charges.

The machines can be linked to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), which provides the information that decides how much is charged.

Such schemes are already in operation in parts of London.

But Liverpool City Council has not given any timescale for when the variable charges could be introduced.

'Fully cashless'

As part of a review of how people pay for parking in the city, the council intends to reduce the number of machines that accepted cash.

About 30% of tickets are still paid for with coins and notes, the council's report said.

Machines in areas where cash payments were less common ware likely to move towards being entirely cashless.

This would "reduce the maintenance cost of existing older machines and provide efficiencies in terms of resource that are used to maintain these".