Thousands of Ticket Machines Not Accepting Old £1 Before Deadline

Motorists across the UK face chaos with thousands of ticket machines still not ready for the deadline of Sunday at 23.59pm after which the old round pounds fail to be legal tender.

MailOnline road tested the old pound to see how it fared in coin-operated machines days before the deadline and discovered that motorists travelling around the capital this weekend may struggle to park.

They tested a parking meter in Kensington, west London yesterday, which ate the coin and gave no ticket.

The British Parking Association says it is 'confident that the majority of parking machines are ready or will be ready to accept the new £1 coin'.

British Parking Association said the cost of replacing or converting 80,000 ticket machines will be up to £50million

It has advised members to ensure there are enough alternatives for motorists to pay for their parking, including card and smartphone options, as well as other cash denominations.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Hart, chief executive of the Automatic Vending Association (AVA), said: 'We believe that all machines owned by AVA members (around 380,000) are now accepting the new £1 coin.'

The AVA, which said it has worked closely with the Royal Mint throughout the planning of the new £1 coin, added that it has no access to information on those machines not owned by its members.
After Sunday, the round £1 coin can still be deposited at most High Street banks, which will have their own deadline – likely to be in about six months.

You can read more about the different tests that mail online conducted with the old round pound here