Penryn commuters and rail passengers will need to keep some spare change handy from now on if they want to use the town’s station car park.

At the last meeting of the civic year, Penryn town councillors heard from county representative Mary May that the long awaited ticket machine, first mooted last April, had finally been installed.

For a while the machine was “still in its packaging” Mrs May said, but now “it’s all wired up and ready to go”.

Parking in the station car park now costs £1.30 a day, with German-based APCOA Parking enforcing the charges.

Tickets expire at 23.59pm on day of purchase according to the sign, which implies that overnight parking in the car park is effectively banned – although a spokesman for First Great Western (FGW) said two-day tickets, priced at £2.60, “should be” available from the machine.

Hapless motorist Adrian Evans was caught out by the new charges this week when he “received an £80 fine for not having a £1.30 parking ticket, which seems very unfair especially as it’s not been mentioned anywhere,” he said.

He asked the Packet to “warn others as it is not listed on First Great Western’s website and is hard to see, especially if you arrive in the early hours!”

There are two bright blue signs in the car park advertising the new charges, both with the “£1.30 per day” tariff displayed in a large font.

Only one of the signs is directly illuminated, however.

APCOA also manage the car park at Penmere train station in Falmouth on behalf of FGW, but parking here is still free - subject to conditions.