Pier with a parking machine that also issues fishing permits

A Metric Aura pay and display parking machine is now controlling parking at the front of the 19th century pier at Clacton-on-Sea.

In addition to issuing 4.50 parking tickets for a four hour stay, the Metric Aura also provides fishermen with 5 day permits.

The pier is an unusual but imaginative use of one of our machines, said Metric sales consultant Richard Staveley who covers the south east.  The owners of the pier decided that with more than 20 parking spaces available the machine could earn revenue.

The pier first opened to the public in 1871 at a time when Clacton-on-Sea was a quiet and gentle little village with few facilities.  The pier was extended in 1893 to reach 360 metres and in 1994 was bought by a local businessman and his family who embarked on an ambitious and successful modernisation project to attract 21st century day trippers.