POUNDEMONIUM

THE new 12-sided pound coin is set to cause chaos when it is launched, catching millions of Brits off guard.

One in three people have no idea there’s a new £1 on the block, while a raft of machines aren’t ready to accept it.

From parking meters and vending machines to locker rooms and kids’ rides, the nation is unprepared for the biggest currency change since the coin replaced the £1 note 34 years ago.

With just 28 days to go before the forge-proof new pound goes into circulation, an estimated 100,000 street ticket machines and pay-and-displays in public car parks are still waiting to be updated.

And 200,000 drinks and snack machines in shopping centres, colleges and train stations will miss the March 28 deadline to be able to accept the new coin.

According to the British Parking Association, it is costing the industry about £50million to adapt or replace 400,000 payment machines.

Almost a quarter will not be ready in time for the rollout of the Royal Mint’s new coin in four weeks time.

Richard Boultbee, sales and marketing director of Metric Group Ltd, Swindon, who are replacing or updating all the parking ticket machines, said drivers will be left “frustrated” in towns where upgrades have not been carried out.

He said parts of the country will not able to take the new £1 until May or June.

Fed-up drivers now face old machines spitting out their cash as the mechanisms will not recognise 12-sided coins.

Any machines which have not been modified will have signs telling drivers new coins won’t work and to use alternatives like 20p and 50p coins or to simply park elsewhere. Boultbee said: “About 80 per cent of our customers have ordered the upgrades but there will be frustration where it has not happened.” Parking ticket machines will still take the round pounds until October 15 but after that they will be programmed to reject them. But the big four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s – said their trolleys were ready for the coins and will still take the old ones and tokens that are also popular. Discounters Lidl said they were “still in the process of adapting” but are confident they would meet the deadline. The Royal Mint said the round pound had to go as there were about £45million worth of fake coins in circulation. Figures from Mastercard estimate there is £1.1billion in unspent old £1 coins in piggy banks and jars or just down the back of the sofa.

Chaos coming as machines are set to miss the deadline for new £1 coins