Lakes Gets Car Parking By Phone

A new parking by phone scheme is set to hit the Lake District this summer with motorists able to pre-book parking spaces at 16 Pay and Display car parks run by the Lake District National Park.

The scheme echos some already in action in the south of the country and is designed to reduce hassle for drivers bearing in mind that some eight million people visit the park every year. It is, maintains the Park's head of car parks, David Coxon, very straightforward to use:

“This is a great way to park your car without the hassle of finding the right coins for pay and display," he says.
 
“It’s very simple. You just register as a user, get a number and then enter your location and length of time you need. If you find you are at the top of Coniston Old Man, or shopping, and need longer, you simply call the number again to extend the time.
 
“Staff checking car parks will have mobile links to a web service showing which cars have registered. It’s an easy to use, easy to run operation and I’m sure our visitors will be pleased to have such a hassle-free way of paying for parking.”

It's already possible to pay for parking using debit and credit cards at Hawkshead, Glenridding and Coniston, but the advantage of the phone scheme is that it doesn't need new machines and is also more versatile.

The twelve-month trial period starts on 1, August 2009.

More information at www.lake-district.gov.uk