A CIRENCESTER driver has criticised Cotswold District Council for not fixing faulty parking ticket machines in Cirencester over the busy festive period but the authority said its team were not equipped to repair them.

On Christmas Eve two out of the six parking ticket machines in the Brewery Car Park had out of order notices attached to them.

Brian Robbins, of Chesterton Park, said that if then council had been able to place notices on the machines then it should have been able to fix them.

Mr Robbins said: “The authorities are always quick to stick a parking fine on your windscreen if you don't comply with regulations.”

But the council said it was unable to fix the machines as the faults were complex and its team are only capable of carrying out basic repairs.

Claire Locke, head of environmental services at the council said: “ If faulty machines are reported to the council or the Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) we will inspect the machines to assess why they are out of order. The CEOs will attempt to fix them but they are only able to undertake basic maintenance or repairs like  removal of ticket blockages.

Mrs Locke explained that if the machines require a more complex or technical repair then this has to be reported to the machine manufacturer, Metric, who will then send an engineer to repair them.

She said: “When this occurs, the CEOS will affix an out of order sign to the machine. It is unfortunate that two out of six machines at the Brewery car park were out of order at the same time during the busy Christmas Eve period and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. May I also remind users that we provide a pay by phone service as an alternative to ticket machines.”