Councils across Suffolk have pledged to continue offering a range of payment options at their car parks - despite one council removing 30 pay and display machines in 2020.
The pledge comes amid concerns about a trend towards paying only by mobile phone applications across England.
Figures obtained from the BBC have revealed that 20 councils are removing pay and display machines and asking people to pay by app instead.
READ MORE: Complaints about car park in Southwold, east Suffolk
The move has prompted concerns from charities that there will be an impact on drivers who do not use mobile phones, while unreliable phone signals could cause difficulties with downloading apps.
However, motorists parking at the majority of car parks across Suffolk will still be able to pay by a variety of means, including card, cash and app.
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A spokesperson for Ipswich Borough Council said: "Customers using our car parks have the ability to pay for parking using cash, card or the MiPermit app.
"There are currently no plans to change the options available for paying for car parking at Ipswich Borough Council car parks."
A spokesperson for Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils said the authorities also had no plans to make all car parks 'pay by app' only.
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She said: "Neither Babergh nor Mid Suffolk District Councils currently have any plans to go completely cashless in our car parks where payment is required.
"We instead continue to offer a variety of ways for car park visitors to pay for their parking, whether that be via card payment, MiPermit, or by cash.
A spokesperson for West Suffolk Council said the 'flexi-stay' St Andrews car park in Bury St Edmunds was pay by card on exit rather than entry.
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However, he added: “We support visitors to our town centres and parks in being able to pay by app, card or coin.”
But an East Suffolk Council spokesperson said the number of pay and display machines in the district had been reduced in 2020, although all car parks had at least one machine in operation for drivers wishing to use cash.
He said: “The number of ‘pay and display’ machines in East Suffolk Council-owned car parks was reduced in 2020 from 126 to 96 machines to reduce carbon emissions related to cash collection. We are not planning to remove any more pay and display machines.
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“All of our car parks have at least one machine in operation for drivers wishing to use cash. If people parking in our car parks prefer not to use cash, they can use the RingGo app to pay for their parking online, by text or over the phone.
“By the beginning of May 2023, we had upgraded all of our pay and display machines with the new 4G modem upgrade.
“Use of the RingGo app for payment has gone from around 5% of transactions in 2019 to up to 50% currently.”
Earlier this month, the EADT reported on concerns about the situation at the privately-owned Easton Farm car park in Southwold, when Rayleigh couple Laurence and Susan Chester were fined £100 for overstaying a ten minute parking restriction.
Although there was the option to pay at a machine, they said the queue was too long, but when they tried to download the parking payment app instead, they were unable to do so due to slow connection speeds.
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