Bearsden car park ticket machine is '˜out of order'

A queue of bemused people were left wondering what to do when they saw that the machine had a ‘network problem’ and they would be unable to get a ticket to display on their car.

Some of the customers were too worried to leave their car without a ticket in case they faced a fine.

A local resident said: “People were really confused and it’s ridiculous that there’s only one ticket machine.

“There are three machines in the car park in Milngavie.

“There’s always a queue of people at the ticket machine in Bearsden.

“It’s very frustrating if you are in a rush to get to work or pick up a child from nursery or school.

“The council should install another machine.”

Charges were introduced in some East Dunbartonshire Council owned car parks from July 4 - if they stay for more than two hours.

The charges were introduced to help pay for Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) locally.

The Scottish Government requires that the DPE scheme be self-financing.

Enforcement fines are not enough to cover costs and - as a result - the council needed to charge for some council-owned parking spaces in town centres.

The council hopes this scheme will also help to support town centre businesses by encouraging turnover and freeing up spaces for shoppers.