Unused parking meter to be removed from car park

The unused parking meter - taped over

The out of order car park meter located in the Cheetham Street car park in Rochdale Town Centre is due to be removed on Friday 7 March.

Users of the car park contacted Rochdale Online to say that the unused machine was “misleading” as wording on the sign was leading people to use an alternative machine that was not the correct machine for that car park.

The car park, which used to be operated by Rochdale Council, is now operated by company Parking Eye who have installed a new ticket machine at the opposite end of the car park.

Car park owner, Chris Greaves said: “The machine, which is taped over to show that it is no longer in use, is hopefully being removed on Friday. There is an electrical connection to that machine so if it can’t be done on Friday, it will hopefully be removed the Friday after.”

Rochdale Council has been unable to remove the parking machine earlier due to the land being privately owned.

A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council said: “The car park and the machine are privately owned so we do not have the authority to go on the land to remove it. The landowners have installed a new, updated machine on the opposite side of the car park, which is why the one near to the road is taped up. The notices are also issued by a private contractor so again we do not have any authority to remove it. We will try to contact the landowner to resolve the situation.”

The issue of drivers using the wrong ticket machine is a first for Mr Greaves who says he hasn’t heard of this being an issue before. He added: “We haven’t had any issues with this before. There is a new machine on site and anyone parking on that site would have to pay for their stay. The site is clearly marked.”