Parking meters at Welwyn Garden City Hospital robbed

TICKET machines at the QE2 Hospital have been left broken for more than two months – after thieves vandalised them and stole money from within.

Two pay and display ticket machines in the hospital car park were broken into in the early hours of Saturday, October 31 last year, and left severely damaged.

But 12-and-a-half weeks on and the machines have still not been fixed.

A spokesman for East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: “In stealing the contents from the two machines, the thieves caused significant damage to them.

“Under their contract, parking contractors Vinci Park were required to repair both machines, so it came as something of a surprise to learn that both were still unusable.

“We are very disappointed at the length of time that Vinci has taken to sort this problem out. This is an issue that we will be taking up with Vinci Park as a matter of urgency.”

A spokeswoman for Vinci Park said the machines were fixed earlier this week, but said: “This was an unusual circumstance for us and is attributed to a combination of adverse weather and delays with the supply of parts.

“We are working to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

Police are still investigating the theft. If you have any information, call Pc Mike Grigg on 0845 33 00 222.