Visitors to Gosport can soon use smart watches to pay for parking

Gosport Borough Council hopes the imminent introduction of Apple Pay will make parking in the town more convenient.

First released in October 2014, Apple Pay allows users of Apple products – such as the iPhone and Apple Watch – to pay for things using their phone to make a contactless payment.

The app, which is compatible with contactless payment terminals, is being intended by the council for use in car parks at Walpole Park and Pebble Beach at Stokes Bay.

The council says that the reason these car parks were chosen is that they are the busiest – with an average of more than 500 transactions per day.

Councillor Stephen Philpott, Gosport’s Economic Development Board chairman, says that the upgrade to the meters will make parking a much simpler process.

He said: ‘We are going to trial using two new parking machines which can accept both coin and contactless payments by credit/debit card or Apple Pay.

‘All the parking machines in Gosport are solar-powered so we need to test these machines at our two busiest locations for 12 months to see how they cope with the high number of transactions.

‘We welcome this opportunity to make paying for parking even easier for residents and visitors to Gosport.’

Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage says that the technological innovations being brought into the town makes a big statement for the ambitions of the council.

She said: ‘Any kind of innovation is thoroughly welcomed in Gosport.’

A start date has not yet been announced.