Pay-as-you-go parking machines are set to disappear from city streets, leaving drivers forced to use apps to pay for a ticket.
Campaigners say the move would be “disastrous for anyone without a smartphone” and could “alienate some people, including the elderly”.
The Times reports how councils are scrapping traditional pay and display machines as mobile phone operators are switching off the 3G data networks which power the meters.
Brighton and Hove city council will reportedly get rid of its parking machines by May 31, while the London borough of Bromley will do the same by early April.
Harrow finished ditching all its machines in January and Enfield plans to have all its meters gone by early April.
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Westminster city council has had no pay and display machines since 2019.
Other boroughs which have removed some machines are Richmond, Merton and Barking and Dagenham.
Councils are blaming the cost of changing the meters over to 4G as mobile providers prepare to switch off their 3G networks.
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Both Vodafone and EE will turn off their respective 3G networks entirely by the end of 2023, while Three will stop theirs in 2024.
There are up to 30 different smartphone apps that are currently used to pay for parking, including ParkMe, Parkopedia, Just Park and PayByPhone.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, told The Times: "The news that we may soon see the end of pay and display parking is disastrous for anyone without a smartphone, including millions of older people who are struggling with the shift away from the coin-in-the-slot payment methods they used throughout their lives.”
The British Parking Association said the "majority of people welcome the convenience of using apps to keep track and manage their parking time" but admitted that "this technology may alienate some people, including the elderly".
Nicholas Bennet, Bromley executive councillor for transport, added: “As a pensioner myself, I appreciate that some people have a problem with modern technology.
“However, we are talking about people who drive a ton and a half of steel, which requires more skill than downloading an app.”
