Fears car park payment changes in Hexham led to shopper boycott

The car park's owners said issues which initially saw all drivers fined have been addressed

A switch to cashless car parking has led to shop workers fearing about their jobs because of a lack of customers, it is claimed.

The mayor of Hexham said staff at the town's Marks and Spencer and B&M Bargains stores were concerned about the changes at Maiden's Walk car park.

It has recently moved from coin payment to a cashless payment system.

However, on the weekend it was introduced a technical issue meant all customers were issued with fines.

Newcastle-based Adderstone Group, which owns the car park, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the problem had been addressed and work has been done to educate users.

The changes also mean disabled parking, which was previously free, now has to be paid for.

"Less people turning up"

Councillor Derek Kennedy, who also represents Hexham West on Northumberland County Council, said: "People are saying they're never going to shop there again which is terrible.

"It's all confusing - people keep getting it wrong. What they should have done is say they were introducing it but disabled the fine system for a month to get a smooth transition.

"We're having lots of stories from staff members who are worried about their jobs because less people are turning up. We're really fond of both M&S and B&M and we want them to be part of our future family in Hexham."

Adderstone Group insisted the system is easy to use. An estates surveyor from the group said: "There were teething problems for the first weekend but these were immediately resolved.

"Cash machines not only pose a security risk but are also more labour intensive, costly to manage and prone to breakage; ultimately resulting in higher parking charges."