Sensor parking app for drivers in Westminster

Sensors on the road lets drivers know if a parking space is available

A free app which will provide live information about available Westminster parking spaces is to be launched.

Sensors in parking bays will let drivers know about empty spaces and the data will also reach traffic wardens in the area, who can advises motorists.

The pilot will cover Savile Row, Jermyn Street, Sackville Street, Burlington Gardens and St John's Wood High Street.

Westminster Council said the app will be launched by mid-September following tests on the 135 sensors.

The last of the sensors will be fitted by Friday.

Motorists can view information about an available parking space through an app on their smartphones and can pay for parking using their phones, as usual.

Councillor Daniel Astaire, cabinet member for business, said: "This is a truly ground-breaking project - to make parking easier and fairer.

"Only San Francisco really has anything similar in the world, and even then we are ahead of the curve in developing a live app that links into the system."

Sensors have been fitted in bays for residents, paid-for parking, spaces reserved for disabled people, doctors, diplomats and taxis.

The council said the live app could be used ultimately to pre-book bays.

If the project, which ends in October, proves successful it could be rolled out to other areas.