Pay for your car parking with conkers

Some car parks in the UK are letting drivers pay for parking with conkers for one week only, to raise awareness of carbon emissions.

Instead of paying for your parking with cash, a group of car parks are offering drivers the chance to pay with conkers.

One conker will equate to 20p, giving drivers free parking for a week beginning on 16th September and ending on 22nd.

It’s all part of an environmental scheme to raise awareness of the high levels of emissions from vehicles in the UK.

Paying with conkers

The Town Centre Car Parks (TCCP) car parks involved in the scheme are in Leeds and Manchester.

Conkers, or horse chestnut tree seeds, can be used instead of money for one week. Drivers can use a maximum of 50 conkers, which works out at £10 of parking charges. The TCCP will then sponsor a forest in the UK to help offset the pollution caused by car emissions.

To take advantage you’ll need to take the conkers down to one of the following car parks: Merrion Centre, Leeds, Clarence Dock, Leeds, and 30 Tariff Street, Manchester.

Only conkers which are intact can be exchanged and one car per household will be allowed to take part.

Although it sounds a bit like an April Fools' joke, Ben Ziff, managing director of TCCP, said the scheme was a fun way to raise awareness and give a little bit back.

“We all have fond memories of looking for conkers so this seemed like a great idea for our customers. We are looking forward to seeing how many people bring us,” he added.

Saving money on your car parking

If you don’t live in Leeds or Manchester, there are a variety of other ways you can save money on the costs of parking your car.

The website Freeparkingspace.co.uk is a good place to start as it’ll direct you to free parking spots across the country. Parkatmyhouse.com is another good website which lists private driveways you can arrange to park in, which are likely to be cheaper than a town centre car park.

Taking advantage of Park and Ride systems, and using supermarket car parks where possible, will also cut your costs.

You can find out more in our article Cut your car park costs.

More on cars:

The petrol price postcode lottery

Supermarkets cut the cost of petrol and diesel

25 ways to cut your car insurance

How to find cheaper diesel and petrol

Cosmetic car insurance: is it worth it?