TRAFFIC chiefs are to make car parking cash machines Millennium friendly.

Around £90,000 has been set aside to replace 32 pay-and-display ticket machines on public car parks in the town centre.

The equipment, installed in 1993, are not Year 2000 compliant and are expected to crash at the turn of the century.

Council bosses are now to replace them with those used for on-street parking.

Borough engineer Mr Mike Cannon said: "The company who supplied the original ticket machines has gone into liquidation and therefore is unable to provide new software to make the system Millennium friendly.

"In addition there have been regular complaints about the unsatisfactory working of these machines, particularly during bad weather. This lack of reliability is leading to loss of revenue and intense customer frustration."

Mr Cannon added: "The pay and display ticket machines used on-street have, on the other hand, proved to be very reliable and popular with the public. These machines are also certified Millennium compliant."

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