Gloucestershire County Council is upgrading its on-street parking pay and display machines this summer.

The new machines will allow secure and fast card payments, both contactless and chip and pin, and will no longer accept cash payments.

On-street parking machines in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Cirencester will benefit from these changes.

The changes will allow drivers to select from 15-minute tariff bands up to the first two hours. These tariffs will be in line with the MiPermit cashless parking payment app which allows users to pay for parking in advance, or from their car on arrival, and to top up their stay up to the maximum time allowed.

The council said the price of tariffs will not change as a result of the upgrade.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic many more day-to-day purchases are made using contactless payment instead of cash and many councils now offer contactless payment for parking.

For those individuals who would prefer to use cash, alternative parking options exist such as off-street car parks. More information on parking alternatives that will accept cash can be found on the local district or borough website.

Those with a disabled blue badge will still be able to continue to park for free for up to three hours in on street pay and display bays.

Cllr Dave Norman, cabinet member responsible for parking at Gloucestershire County Council, said: "These upgrades to our on-street parking pay and display machines will help to ensure a better user experience for our residents.

"The old machines are expensive to maintain and can be unreliable for customers. The new cash-free machines will create a streamlined process, while not increasing the charges to our customers."