Car parks in a busy town centre will be free on Saturday as the council get rid of the failed ANPR system and replace it with pay and display.

Shoppers can enjoy free parking in Marlow on February 25 to allow Wycombe District Council to carry out a software upgrade of the existing payment machines.

Pay and display parking will start in the town on Sunday.

Changes to the software in the parking machines in car parks in High Wycombe, Princes Risborough and Bourne End will take place on Sunday, when parking is mostly free.

All council-run fee-paying car parks in the Wycombe district, with the exception of The Swan and Easton Street in High Wycombe, will change to the pay and display system after WDC admitted that the ANPR system had failed.

It comes almost a year after a Bucks Free Press investigation revealed the camera-operated parking system covering the Wycombe district could be letting ticket dodgers get away scot-free.

WDC said it has been “left with no alternative” to change the system following the government’s decision to restrict data held by the DVLA.

The pay and display system means customers pay for their parking when they arrive at the car park, using coins or card, and must display a valid ticket.

The RingGo telephone payment service will also be available in pay and display car parks.

Motorists will continue to pay when they leave The Swan and Easton Street car parks, with newly-installed barriers at the exits automatically rising for permit holders and customers who have paid for their stay at the machines.

Contactless payment technology has been made available in some of the district's busier car parks.