From this morning motorists across the whole of Northern Ireland will be able to pay their parking tickets by phone or web, at any time of day, using hosted services supplied by Cobalt. These customer-friendly payment facilities are based on the company's proven transaction-handling capabilities which have already been widely deployed in support of local government departments elsewhere in the UK. Small changes were however necessary to the telephone environment which was been specially re-recorded, using the talents of an Irish radio announcer, in order to ensure that the tone of voice was appropriate for the new users.

Both new services support the recent introduction of decriminalisation of parking enforcement to the province. This change saw responsibility for on-street parking enforcement transferred from the Police Service of Northern Ireland to the Department for Regional Development (DRNDI) on the 30th October.

The new parking restrictions are being enforced by National Car Parks Ltd (NCP).

The growing levels of economic activity in Northern Ireland have contributed to the need to encourage drivers to park responsibly and properly. It has also been recognised that persistent offenders - people who constantly run the risk of attracting a ticket by parking illegally - had become something of an issue in Northern Ireland. This problem has arisen following a long period in which the police service has understandably found parking enforcement to be overshadowed by more pressing concerns. Therefore, as part of a general campaign to herald the change, during the past two weeks of this new regime, wardens have simply issued warning notices to any illegally parked vehicles. From today however conventional parking tickets will be issued.

For the ordinary motorist who picks up a ticket and pays within a fortnight, the fine will be £30. This doubles to £60 after this time. It is expected that over 100,000 tickets will be issued during the first year of operation.