Parking for shoppers and residents in Bromley will now be easier thanks to a new initiative employed by Bromley Borough Council.

Sadly it hasn't made all parking free of course, but it's now easier to pay to park in Bromley centre than before.

Along with service provider RingGo - which has supplied the technology and support for similar schemes in  more than 40 local authorities across the UK - Bromley Borough Council are establishing cashless parking.

A godsend for people like me who usually scrabble about for change and have to go rushing back to replenish the ticket after just an hour (all I could find when I arrived), I can now dial (local rate) number 020 3046 0010 shown on the pay machines, give my vehicle details location, and payment card number.

Most of us now carry a mobile, and a form of payment card, making the scheme simple to access. Once I've used the system, the next time I call to pay, I only have to give the security code on the back of my card and location, as all my details have been stored on RingGo's system. It's safe, secure and should make life a lot easier. It also means that I can top up my parking from my mobile as it starts to run out - meaning no more dashes back to the car after breaking a tenner on a bar of chocolate I didn't really want - and I can also opt for the text service warning me when my time's about to run out.

All this should make shopping locally easier, and certainly helps out the organisationally- impaired like me.

Just the other day a wealthy looking gent approached me looking stressed in the multi storey car park, asking if I could spare a pound. He caught me on a rare flush-with-change day so I obliged. Of course afterwards I thought what a good blag that would be - I wonder how much money one could make using that ruse! (before being caught and escorted away by nice gents in blue uniforms of course)


Kim

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Kim Frances is a freelance writer and photographer with The Little White Studio.