Motorists using a mobile phone to pay for parking at council car parks in Cheshire East will see a reduction in their charges, thanks to a contract negotiated by the council's parking services team.

From Thursday 1 October, the RingGo app will be replaced by PayByPhone as the new method of payment by phone. Residents and visitors parking in Cheshire East Council's car parks will benefit from a reduction from 20p to 7p per transaction, while it will also now be free for motorists to request confirmation of their booking and notification of when their parking period is due to expire.

In the last 12 months, half a million transactions have been made using RingGo, so it is anticipated that the new contract with PayByPhone will make huge savings for motorists across the borough.

Cllr Laura Crane, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for highways and waste, said: "I am very happy to see this change go live. We are working hard to ensure that our services provide value for money to our residents and this, whilst not making a saving for the council, is keeping more money in the pockets of local motorists.

"As we all fight hard to beat this virus, many are choosing to use non-contact methods such as this to pay for their car parking needs and I hope that this cost saving will enable more people to make the switch if they are able to, reducing a transmission risk within our community. This also includes our staff and contractors, who maintain and empty the cash from our payment meters, which will continue as normal."

RingGo will remain in use until midnight on Wednesday 30 September but the council are encouraging people to download 'paybyphone' on their mobile device as this will be the new means of paying for parking by phone from 1 October.