A car park in St Austell will be free indefinitely after the Town Council claimed it has been 'let down' by one of its contractors.

St Austell Town Council has announced that the Priory Car Park will be free until it can resolve an issue with its parking machines.

According to the Town Council, the contractor who usually looks after its cash collection machine, G4S, are unable to say when they will be able to fix an issue which has resulted in the machines being out of order.

The Town Council have not as yet disclosed what the issue with the machines is, only that until they are fixed, the car park shall remain free to use.

In a statement on its social media channel, St Austell Town Council said: "St Austell Town Council has unfortunately been let down by its cash collection contractor, G4S which has resulted in all the car park machines in Priory Car Park becoming out of order.

"Until this unsatisfactory position is resolved, Priory Car Park will be free from time to time and suitable notices will be placed on the car park machines at Priory Car Park to advise customers of the latest situation.

"Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience."

A G4S spokesperson said: "Working closely with Cornwall Council, we have prioritised collections to ensure all the services we deliver proceed as planned."