Yes, parking meters are annoying, I agree, but blowing them up is a very stupid idea.

Fourteen parking meters have been victim to explosives in Lewes in East Sussex, and it has cost East Sussex County Council around £20,000 to replace and repair them.

Furthermore, blowing up a parking meter could result in an innocent passer by suffering severe injuries.

The East Sussex council, Lewes council and Sussex Police have offered a £1,250 for anyone who comes forward with information relating to the criminal activity.

It really makes no sense causing costly damage to parking meters.

The thing is, parking meters collect money for the council so vandalising them will make the council out of pocket:
One – because it’s not getting any money from those meters anymore;
Two – because it now has to pay to fix or replace them.

Now, here’s the important part. The council keeps public services such as road-cleaning and maintenance going. So, if you blow up parking meters, angered by the fact that the council is ‘taking’ your money, the council will be out of pocket and you’ll find that not as much money can be spent on making services in your area run smoothly.

Basically these parking meter vandals have shot themselves in the foot.

Labels: criminal activity, damage, East Sussex County Council, Lewes, maintenance, money, parking meter, public services, road-cleaning, vandal