A DISGRUNTLED motorist says Ceredigion County Council’s parking machines are ‘by far the worst’ he has ever come across.

Nigel Jones, of Bryngwyn, has he described how he spent ‘the best part of 10 minutes’ trying to get a ticket printed from a machine that accepted card payment only while on a day trip to New Quay.

“Might I suggest if somebody has the time you go along and watch users struggle or even try to use it yourself,” he commented.

Mr Jones made his remarks following a trip to the seaside with his wife, Denise, who is disabled.

“Having worked in IT all my life I walked away from the machine thinking I must be getting senile as it had taken me so long to fathom out how to pay,” he told the Tivy-Side.

“But in the time we sat in the car every other user struggled equally or, in the case of two families, even gave up.

“The new machines are card-only - so great if you have no card.

“But even with a card the process you have to go through is somewhat daunting first time as it would be with visitors to the area.

“On top of this the chip and pin machine screen that forms part of the dragged-out process is nigh on unreadable if the sun is shining onto the screen which makes the process even more prone to fail.

“Having travelled somewhat both in the UK and further afield I can say hand on heart that these machines are by the far the worst we have ever come across.

“My wife posted our experiences onto our village facebook site and there were four villagers who had tried to use the machines and either gave up or said it had taken them in excess of 10 minutes to get the ticket.

“With the tourist season finally kicking off it’s not the best of welcomes back to Ceredigion that visitors will have endure.”

A county council spokesperson said the pay and display machines were from an international supplier and used extensively around the world.

“The machines are designed to be user-friendly with information on how to use them being provided,” she added.

“The process of buying a ticket is intended to be as streamlined as possible and there is no need to provide a vehicle registration number as is the case in many other car parks.

“The introduction of cashless parking charges is consistent with a wider consumer trend. This is especially true in relation to motoring related payments which includes for fuel, maintenance and insurance.

“The move to cashless parking is beneficial from the perspective of reducing risks associated to COVID-19 related transmission.”