New parking machines will be paid for by increasing charges in council-run car parks in the district.

Twenty pay machines will be installed at council fee-paying car parks in St Albans and Harpenden with the work scheduled to take place in the next couple of months.

From Monday, November 2, charges will rise to help cover the cost of the new machines and other improvements such as a pay-on-exit system and new exit and entrance barriers at Drovers Way and Russell Avenue in St Albans.

Monday to Saturday rates for over a one hour stay will rise by 10p with all-day rates rising by 20p and weekly rates to increase by 70p. The Sunday all-day rate remains the same.

St Albans council extended its contract with car park operators NCP in May and it was agreed at that time that new machines and other innovations would be introduced to improve the service.

New software will capture usage data to help manage the service, monitor performance and continue to improve it. In addition, in the event of a fault, the real-time pay machine technology will send out immediate alerts to staff so issues can be rectified quickly.

Cllr Beric Read, the council’s portfolio holder with responsibility for car parks, said there had been no overall increase since April 2014 .

He added: “We are making these major improvements to our car parks in an effort to transform the experience of car users. NCP is also making changes to some of the parking fees which will help to pay for the investment being made in the district’s car parks."

In a separate scheme, on-street pay and display machines at 18 locations across the district are being replaced.