Visitors parking at car parks in Dorset will no longer have to dig deep for change when paying for a parking ticket.

The Dorset Council’s Partnership has almost finished upgrading its car parking meters so visitors can pay for tickets by card, cash and by using their mobile phones.

The project aims to provide a quick and easy way to pay for parking by offering more payment options to the public. 

The Weymouth and Portland Borough Council is the first of the partnership’s members to have finished upgrading its car parking meters.

The project has cost the council £200,000 and has involved replacing 33 car parking meters with new machines capable of accepting card payments.

Councillor Colin Huckle, Weymouth & Portland’s Portfolio Holder for Transport and Infrastructure, has welcomed the new car parking meters.

He said: “We are delighted to be operating 33 modern car parking meters across the borough. We believe this will enable users to save time and allow them further options in how they wish to pay.”

The project in North Dorset is almost complete with 19 out of 20 machines up and running.

The project will cost the North Dorset District Council £100,000, however, Councillor Sherry Jespersen, North Dorset District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community & Regeneration, is adamant that the new car parking meters will save visitors time.

She said: "Paying by contactless card is really quick and easy and if you pay by phone, you will receive a notification when your time is running out. This means you can top up easily without having to return to your car.”

West Dorset District Council is in the process of modernising its car parking meters, however it is not yet known how many will need to be replaced with new machines. The West Dorset District Council currently operates a total of 72 car parking meters.

Councillor John Russell, West Dorset District Council’s Brief holder for Environmental Protection & Assets, said: “We are pleased to see the progress being made across the partnership. Our parking team are working really hard to have West Dorset’s updated parking machines in place soon.”

The project comes after Dorset’s Councils paid more than £12,000 to adapt some of their car parking machines to accept the new £1 coins earlier this year. However, according to a spokesman from the Dorset Council's Partnership these machines were not replaced by the new meters, instead only old parking meters incapable of accepting card payments were replaced.