THIS month’s renovation of the Largs seafront car park has been hailed as a ‘game changer’ by the town’s councillors.

The popular car park is set to be upgraded with the latest technology including ticketless parking, card, contactless and smartphone payment, CCTV and remotely controlled barrier opening.

The works are expected to take around three days to complete, during which time access to the car park will be limited.

Councillors have welcomed the long-awaited renovations, which they say will improve the experience of thousands of visitors who come to Largs each year.

Independent councillor Ian Murdoch says the cost of maintaining the car park was becoming higher than the cost to upgrades so the time was right to modernise the facility.

He said: “I am over the moon that this is finally happening. I think it will be a game-changer for the visitor experience in Largs.

“It was not a good advert for the town for people to arrive to machines with binbags on them and people stuck in the car park.

“It really isn’t fit for purpose now."

SNP councillor Alan Hill believes the contactless payment options will be vital in a post-pandemic Largs.

He explained: “I am absolutely delighted to hear the news, and it is something that the four councillors agreed on.

“Many people rarely carry cash since the pandemic, so the contactless payments is needed to really bringing Largs into line.

“It will also be much more hygienic for most people to pay by card or online instead of thousands of people using the same machine and handling cash.”

Conservative councillor Tom Marshall says the car park infrastructure was past its sell by date.

He said: “The infrastructure has been there for a while, it has suffered from being on the seafront and the electronics are dated.

“The modern upgrades will save a lot of money by not having to call out engineers because of breakdowns on a weekly basis.

“I was in favour of using ANPR number plate recognition like they have in car parks down south but local authorities in Scotland don’t have the ability to use that at the moment.”

Labour councillor Alex Gallagher says the lack of modern toilets have been frustrating for visitors to the town for many years.

He said: “It will be good to get a reliable, upgraded facility that doesn’t have so many outages and problems, which will ultimately also save on costs."

The 137-space barrier-controlled facility plays host to an average of 80,000 visitors each year and the income generated is used to help support community projects, events and services in Largs.