Investigations are continuing into a technical issue with Worcester City Council's car park payment machines, with full refunds promised to those affected by duplicate transactions.
Whilst the source of the issue has now been identified, a solution to the problem has yet to be found, so the card payment option continues to be disabled on all machines.
The machine provider has assured the City Council that no further payment runs will be sent for processing until the issue has been rectified.
The provider has pledged to issue full refunds within seven days to anyone who has been affected by duplicate payments being taken from their bank accounts.
Worcester City Council has received more than 1,500 complaints from customers and has issued a contractual breach notice to the provider in respect of this incident. It will also be undertaking a review of current arrangements.
Cllr Marc Bayliss, joint leader of Worcester City Council, said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected by this issue. We know that people are already struggling with the cost of living crisis and we fully understand their frustration at duplicate payments being taken from their bank accounts. We'd like to assure them that anyone affected will get a full refund.
"The car park machines are operated by a large independent organisation on behalf of the city council and our officers are working round the clock to try to ensure they resolve the issue."
Anyone who has suffered from duplicate payments may wish to contact their bank in the interim as they may be able to provide a refund more quickly.
Anyone facing financial hardship is advised to contact CAB, with whom the council works in partnership. The CAB can be contacted on 0808 278 7891.
Customers who wish to contact the Council about this matter are asked to do so by email at
