Cardigan Council bosses have been struggling to find £22,500 needed to repair the four pay-and-display machines in the Welsh town’s main carpark – much to the delight of shopkeepers who have reported a rush of shoppers enjoying hours of free parking.
The vandalism has accidentally exposed the fact that parking meters, far from generating revenue for a town, appear to cripple trade and kill town centres.
It demonstrates what we’ve been saying for years: if you have lower parking fees, or even no fees, then people will come into town.”
