DRIVERS will not have to pay a fee to use their mobile phones to park in the Somerset West and Taunton Council area under a new scheme launched this week.

Using PayByPhone, a new cashless parking system, means drivers can park in Minehead, Porlock, Dunster, Watchet and Williton without paying a service fee. The service replaces a scheme under which drivers were charged a fee to log their parking details by phone.

The scheme takes in 2,335 parking spaces available in 29 car parks.

Drivers can also receive a free reminder of when their parking time slot ends and can extend their parking time from wherever they are.

John Rendell, parking specialist at Somerset West and Taunton Council, said drivers in West Somerset could now go fully cashless and enjoy the advantages of the services PayByPhone offers.

“They don’t have to carry cash or cards anymore or worry about running back to top up the parking before their session expires and session can be extended from anywhere.”

He said that drivers could also use recently-launched features which allowed them to locate parking before leaving for their destination and provided the closest PayByPhone parking location number once they have parked.

Hannah Fuller, operations director for PayByPhone UK, said: “Mobile parking payments have many advantages for people who live and work in the area and to the local authority.

“Not only does it make parking more convenient and hassle-free when going cashless, but it also greatly reduces vandalism and the cost of maintaining pay- and-display machines. Registration is very simple and takes less than 30 seconds.”

More information is available at paybyphone.co.uk.