Three town centre car parks have gone cashless as Watford residents branded the move a "joke".

A sign has appeared at the Church multi-storey car park in Exchange Road in recent days warning drivers that the pay stations now only accept cards, although operator Citipark also offers a smartphone app.

The Sutton car park in Estcourt Road and Gade in Rosslyn Road are also affected by the change as they are run by the same operator.

The Church car park now only accepts cards.The Church car park now only accepts cards. (Image: Google Maps) Residents have branded the move a “joke” online as they warned it could make accessing the town centre more difficult for elderly people or those without smartphones.

“I don't have the patience for it. I just want to pay cash to park my car and go home,” one local commented. “Imagine older people, how is my nan going to know how to download an app on her phone considering it’s a Doro phone?” 

“They only think of people who are tech savvy. Nobody else stands a chance now, disabilities or elderly,” another added. 

Some residents raised concerns that people were being given less options to pay as one Watford resident called for a boycott of cashless machines.

Another said: "Cash seems criminal now, they don’t care about us oldies."

Citipark has been contacted for comment.