Car park users in Uttlesford can now use their mobile phones to pay for parking after a new initiative was launched today (Monday).

Uttlesford District Council’s cashless parking payment scheme has been rolled out across the car parks it owns in Saffron Walden, Dunmow and Stansted Mountfitchet.

The MiPermit service, provided through the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP), will enable customers to benefit from a new secure, cashless, paperless parking system via phone or secure online site.

Cabinet member Cllr Susan Barker, whose portfolio includes parking, said: “Local businesses and residents have been urging us to review our parking schemes for many years; we have listened to their concerns and are delighted that we can introduce this new system today which will no doubt benefit both the shopper and the local traders in the towns across the district.”

She added: “There will be no more need to hunt for the right change to pay for parking or cut a shopping trip short to avoid over-running on an already bought parking ticket. I am confident that this new scheme will answer the concerns that local businesses, shopkeepers and residents have been raising for years.”

Branded an “easy-to-use system” by the council, the scheme enables payment for a parking stay to be topped up, subject to the car parks maximum stay policy, so as not to cut short a shopping trip, meal out or over-running appointment.

Optional reminders of when parking time is running out are also available, along with a MiPermit smartphone app to help locate and guide users back from the town centres to where the car is parked.

Parking can be paid for via a smartphone app, online portal, text or phone call and there is no need to issue a paper ticket.

Customers parking in town regularly or on a one-off visit can manage their own parking account online, and access parking payment, personal or car registration details whenever they need to.

Cllr Robert Mitchell, North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) joint committee chairman, said: “We are pleased to make hassle free cashless car parking payment available to Uttlesford’s residents and visitors. Online transactions for a host of daily essentials are the norm for many, so adding parking to the list is good news.”

MiPermit is part of the NEPP’s work to improve the parking experience for customers across north Essex. Uttlesford residents can use the system on trips to Colchester and Epping Forest, where, according to the NEPP, it is already proving popular in ‘pay and display’ car parks.