For anyone who has stood at a 'Pay & Display' ticket machine with only a crumpled £20 note in their hand, Bournemouth Borough Council has good news. From Monday, 17 July, car parking in 45 car parks across town can be paid with just one quick call on a mobile phone. This is the biggest roll-out of cashless parking by any local authority in England.

Cobalt's RingGo system charges the parking session to the caller's credit or debit card, with an additional convenience fee of 20p or 30p. Texts can be sent as a reminder that the session is coming to an end, and the customer then has the innovative option of extending their parking - from wherever they are. No need to return to the car.

How it works: after parking, the customer makes a local phone call, giving the four digit car park location number, and their vehicle and payment details. By also setting up a PIN (Personal Identification Number), they will also be fast tracked next time they call, as most of the data will already be stored.

For business users, VAT receipts are available online - meaning no fiddly paper tickets to lose, and the Borough's Parking Attendants can check valid RingGo parkers via handheld devices.

Gerry Bolland, Parking Manager for Bournemouth Council, explains why he chose to implement cashless parking in Bournemouth: "We wanted to offer a better service to everyone who uses our parking facilities - for holidaymakers, conference visitors and, of course, local people. RingGo means no queuing, no small change, no pieces of paper and no long walks back and forth between car and machine. The best part is that a parking session can be extended by simply making a phone call. This is great when a meeting overruns or the sun stays shining longer than usual!

"RingGo is an established, reliable system in the rail industry, so this was an easy choice to make. I look forward to it taking a significant proportion of car park sales. This additional service to our customers should reduce stress and the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued. I certainly hope so."