COTSWOLD District Council (CDC) will be upgrading their pay and display machines to allow users to pay by card.

The upgrades will take effect in June to comply with new regulations governing transaction methods.

The upgrade to the machines will see the introduction of a card slot which does not require a PIN number and contactless payment. Users will also be able to continue cash payments and payments by mobile phone.

Commenting on the change, Cllr Chris Hancock, the CDC Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Partnerships, said: “These changes will ensure that we can accept payments in line with new legislative requirements regulating unattended chip and pin payments at pay and display machines.

“Paying to park by credit card is becoming increasingly popular and we expect that this trend will continue.

“In particular, contactless ‘wave and pay’ transactions should prove to be very popular as they are very quick and easy.

“Although this payment method only has an upper limit of £30 that is much more than our highest tariff - £12 for multiple days in the Beeches Car Park in Cirencester.”