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Motorists' revenge - a £300,000 blitz on pay and displays
Last updated at 21:57pm on 30th November 2006

They approach under the cloak of darkness. Their weapons of choice are industrial-sized fireworks. And their targets are pay and display parking ticket machines.

These shadowy attackers - thought to be angry motorists - have shattered the peace in the traditionally tranquil market town of Lewes, East Sussex.

Their guerilla campaign began two years ago after the council introduced new on-street parking charges following complaints from residents about congestion on the narrow streets.

Since then, the culprits have struck 218 times, causing £300,000 of damage. Of the town's 90 ticket machines, 33 have been destroyed, three in the last week alone, and dozens more have needed costly repairs.

Yesterday the hunt for the bombers intensified as police offered a £3,000 reward for information leading to their arrest and conviction.

Chief Inspector Neil Moscrop said: "This is a criminal act and someone could get seriously injured. I would urge anyone with any information to make contact."

Usually, the attackers ram the fireworks into the machines or attach them with tape before detonating. Worried officials say inchlong pieces of shrapnel have been flung up to 60ft from the scenes of the explosions, putting innocent members of the public at risk.

Council transport spokesman Matthew Lock said: "As well as risking life and limb, it is the people of Lewes who suffer the financial consequences of this mindless vandalism.

"The cost of it has to be recovered through higher charges for permits and for pay-and-display parking. It also means that any surplus income which would have been spent on local transport improvements just will not be there."

The parking scheme was introduced in September 2004 with rates of 50p for 20 minutes in the High Street and £1 for all day in outlying areas, charges from which the council hoped to raise £100,000 a year.

But last year, the cost of the damage caused by the ticket machine bombers was equivalent to the entire income from business, resident and visitor parking permits for the whole year, a council spokesman said.

No cash has been stolen from the machines during the attacks, the less serious of which have involved squirting glue into the coin slots.

Powerful fireworks may be more readily available to the aggrieved of Lewes because the town hosts the country's largest traditional Guy Fawkes Night display and has several bonfire societies.

Yesterday many of the locals were quick to criticise the parking charge scheme. Estate agent Charles Wycherley, 44, whose business parking rate doubled to £1,000 a year under the scheme, said: "The popular view about these parking charges is that it is a hammer to crack a nut.

"People are extremely disgruntled and it is no surprise that some of them are beginning to take direct action."

Tim Stephenson, 49, director of an electronics firm, said: "I thought about blowing a machine up myself. It's just outrageous, it's very expensive-and you get such a short time to park. It's driving people mad."

Fourteen traffic wardens are on hand to penalise those who fail to pay or out-stay their ticket.

Geoff Robb, 34, a musician, said: "I'm just off to post a letter. I might only be gone two minutes and there'll be a ticket on my windscreen. Blowing up machines is a bit extreme but it's easy to understand why some people might resort to it."

Powerful fireworks may be more readily available to the aggrieved of Lewes because the town hosts the country's largest traditional Guy Fawkes Night display and has several bonfire societies.

Yesterday the hunt for the bombers intensified as police offered a £3,000 reward for information leading to their arrest and conviction.

Daily Mail



Or to put it another way: "The whole school will be given detention if the culprit does not own up - so there!"