Battle over parking meters in sleepy seaside town sees machines glued shut

The sleepy seaside town of North Berwick is an unlikely setting for an underground campaign of resistance.

But East Lothian Council's decision to install parking meters has been met with an "unprecedented" level of hostility.

Mystery vandals have caused almost £40,000 worth of damage to the machines by covering them in glue – weeks before they have had the chance to collect a single charge.

Police Scotland described the attacks as "unacceptable" and said those responsible would be caught and "held accountable".

Under the new measures, motorists would be granted up to 45 minutes of free parking on the High Street, about 30 miles (48km) from Edinburgh.

They would then be charged £1 for up to 75 minutes and £2 for up to a maximum of 90 minutes to "incentivise the turnover" of available spaces.

A fractious council meeting in December was disrupted by motorists honking their car horns outside, while a man was ejected for barracking councillors with shouts of "shame" after it got under way.

When BBC Scotland News visited, two workmen painting road markings said they had been "hassled" by locals while going about their jobs.

Blank signage erected around the town ahead of the meter rollout has been defaced with the same word: "Resist".

Then there are the meters themselves. On one residential street, two machines about 20 yards apart are spattered with a bright white substance.

Others have had their card readers glued shut. One close to the seafront, where the near-200-year-old golf club gives way to a spectacular view across the Firth of Forth to the Bass Rock, has its keypad caked in a sticky black ooze.

In total, East Lothian Council said 30 of the 40 meters installed had been defaced, with the bill for repairs currently running to £38,000.

IPS UK, the firm that installed the machines, described the vandalism as "totally extraordinary".

Managing director Freddie Jones said: "We have experience of commissioning thousands of parking meters across the whole UK over a number of years. We have never seen the sheer volume and extent of the vandalism which has taken place in North Berwick.

"For a project of this type, it is completely unprecedented."

Some residents claim East Lothian Council ignored a petition with 7,000 signatures on a "technicality," while an initial consultation attracted hundreds of objections.

However, it is the damage caused to the machines that is the talk of a town where about a quarter of the 8,000 residents are aged 65 and over.

Jackie Allbrook, shopping on the High Street with daughter Kate, said the reaction was out of character, but added that she could understand the level of anger.

"It's senseless really, but I think it is born out of frustration," she said.

"Somebody at some point has just felt that it is the only way to get their point across.

"But it is going to cost more money for someone to put it right".

Another local resident, James Campbell, said he feared for North Berwick's future when the charges come into force.

"It's going to kill this town," he said.

"There won't be any footfall here, people won't come.

"There was a situation that I know about elsewhere and people went around and glued all the parking meter slots. Anyone who does that here, I would give them a medal."

But not everyone is as sympathetic to the protests.

While BBC Scotland News was interviewing people on the High Street, a woman approached to share her views.

She asked not to be named or pictured over fears she would be shunned by her neighbours.

"Look at the cars here," she said, pointing towards a large, white SUV.

"These people are not poor. If you want to park there in a great big car, put some money in the meter.

"Putting stuff on signs and vandalising machinery, what example is that to young people? We tell them to behave themselves and yet middle-class people are going around doing that because they don't get their own way."

The new measures were due to be rolled out from Monday, but have now been delayed to April.

East Lothian Council said the delay was not due to the vandalism.

John Wellwood, of North Berwick Community Council, said it was pushing for a legal review of the measures and the process of implementing it.

He criticised East Lothian Council for its lack of engagement with the community.

He said: "We don't condone the vandalism; in fact we condemn it.

"But the strength of feeling in the town is massive. This is what everybody is against and we can't find anyone who is trying to support it apart from the council.

"Everything we have tried has been blocked by East Lothian Council. So I can understand the frustration people are feeling".

Insp Alan King, of Police Scotland, said the vandalism had caused great expense to the "public purse" while councils were "bearing what are harsh economic times".

East Lothian Council leader, Councillor Norman Hampshire, said the fees were necessary to regulate parking in a town without attendants.

He said the only way to introduce staff to stop certain drivers parking on double yellow lines, in front of drop kerbs and on pavements was to bring in income to fund them.

He told the BBC those responsible for defacing the machines would have "action taken against them".

"The council budget can't afford to employ traffic wardens and the income from the parking charges will allow us to employ them," Hampshire said.

"If people think by vandalising the machines they will stop the parking charges coming in, we will bring them in. We need to do this.

"North Berwick is a small town, some people will know who is responsible for the vandalism and Police Scotland are confident they'll be able to apprehend the people responsible."