Scrabbling around for coins at the side of the road will soon no longer be necessary for motorists as cashless parking is introduced to pay and display bays in Croydon.

Croydon Council has started rolling out the RingGo service, launched in its car parks a year ago, to the thousands of parking bays in Croydon’s streets.

The roll out is expected to be completed by October 31.

RingGo lets motorists pay for their parking with a credit or debit card, rather than using cash at a ticket machine.

Anyone using the service just needs to park their car, contact RingGo by smartphone app, telephone, SMS or online, and pay the parking charge via their phone.

Motorists can pre-register online by going to myRingGo.co.uk/register or by using the RingGo smartphone apps or registering at the time of parking.

Deputy cabinet member for transport and environment Councillor Robert Canning said: "We want to make it as easy as possible for motorists to pay their parking charges.

“Cashless parking has proved popular  in council-run car parks and the RingGo system has proved reliable and easy to use.

“Its roll out across the borough’s streets is good news for motorists.

"The days of having to scrabble about for loose change to pay for parking are over.”

People will still be able to use the existing coin based pay and display machines to pay for their parking if they prefer.