The final coin-operated parking meter has been removed from central London.
Westminster council has removed the last functioning meter from Warwick Square – more than 50 years after the machines were first installed in the capital.
To mark the occasion the council held a short ceremony with the Lord Mayor of Westminster Cllr Louise Hyams and Peter Moore, the Town Crier of Westminster, who formally announced the end of the traditional meter.
The removal of 4,000 machines started in 2007 after motorists began to pay for parking via mobile phone or credit card.
The first clockwork wind up parking meter went up in Mayfair’s Grosvenor square in July 1958.
Patrick McDonnell has been writing about parking meters for the last 20 years for Parking Review magazine.
He said: “When introduced in 1958 the parking meter was the most elegant and economical method of paying for parking and transformed the free-for-all that parking had become.
“Vehicles at certain hotspots in Westminster were often tripled parked and causing mayhem on-street.
“But times change, and what had been a boon when initially introduced has now become an expensive bane for councils.”
Around 25 parking meters remain in storage. The council is giving away some to local schools and nurseries while the Science Museum has also requested one.
The remainder are likely to be sold on eBay with the proceeds going to charity.
