PARKING MACHINE DAMAGE COSTS £220,000
LOUTS have launched a war of destruction against Lewes' parking ticket machines.
Since the town's controversial on-street parking charges were launched only two years ago, 185 machines have been attacked, with 26 of them damaged beyond repair.
There are 80 machines in Lewes, which means that, statistically, each one has been damaged more than twice.
In fact, Lewes has a worse record in this regard than any other town in England.
The 220,000 cost in repairs and lost revenue is equivalent to the entire income from business, resident and visitor permits for the whole two years.
Fireworks are the favoured way of demolishing the machines, adding a new, hideously dangerous, dimension to the attacks.
The front of the machines are likely to blow off, hurling potentially lethal shrapnel across the street.
The latest assaults in the past 10 days were on machines in Bradford Road, the Phoenix car park and Brooks Road.
David Quinn, president of Lewes Chamber of Commerce, which admits extreme reservations about the operation of the scheme, said: 'This is something no-one should condone.
'It is not helping the town's cause, and it could eventually lead to parking charges going up.'
Cllr Matthew Lock, county council lead member for transport, said: 'This is an extremely serious matter.
'The damage to these machines means that the surplus from the scheme is being spent on repairs instead of being used to fund transport improvements for the people of Lewes.
'Vandalism to parking machines does happen in other areas of the county, but at a much lower level than in Lewes.
'We understand Hastings suffers just two or three attacks a year, with a cost of around 1,000.
'Brighton and Hove, which has about eight times as many machines as Lewes, typically incurs damage of only about 20,000.'
He added: 'To put the cost of this damage into context, the much needed improvements to Station Street, which we estimate to cost about 200,000, could have been carried out.
'The people of Lewes have been robbed.'
There are no plans to change the scheme. But the council could bring in more robust machines or, reluctantly, it could go for a voucher system.
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Weather for Lewes
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -4 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North east
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