It's a Metric Miracle

But not even a major flood could not knock it off its pedestal.

When the waters receded, an engineer had only to change the solar power battery and the Metric S2 was back in business, as if nothing had ever happened.

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Councils parking and enforcement manager Tony Bidmead was amazed.

We knew the Metric parking machines were good, but we hadnt appreciated how they could withstand the impact of such a major flood.

We were really surprised we had fully expected more damage. In fact, we thought it would be an insurance claim and we would have a key parking machine out of action for several weeks whilst a replacement machine was ordered.

When the River Don burst its banks, the Metric S2, which serves a 50-space car park in the Marshgate area of Doncaster, floodwater rose three quarters the way up the machine.

The flooding was made worse by a canal 100 metres away also contributing to the problems.

According to Tony Bidmead, only the very top and solar panel of the machine were visible above the water line.

The coin box was under water, but after a disinfectant when the waters subsided, we found it was in perfect working order. This was good news for us because it meant there was no downtime.

The car park, which is situated less than a half mile walk from the town centre, has a usage of up to 40% on a daily basis. The short stay parking facility is 20p an hour for a maximum of four hours.