Shotley Peninsula motorists parking in Babergh can now scrap their paper ticket and go digital – to help protect their health and the environment.

Visitors needing to drive into the district to shop local, or visiting beauty spots, instead of walking or cycling, can now choose to go paperless in the councils' ticketed car parks, including Pin Mill, Hadleigh, Sudbury and East Bergholt.

Thanks to the introduction of MiPermit, Babergh shoppers and visitors can now help to reduce waste by opting for a digital ticket instead.

With around a million visits made to the council-owned car parks each year, opting for MiPermit could save millions of pieces of paper going in the bin annually.

Cllr Elisabeth Malvisi, cabinet member for environment at Babergh District Council, said: "Giving visitors choice when visiting and shopping in our key towns and locations is really important.

"Introducing digital tickets means we can continue to improve our visitor offer as part of our wider town visions. But, especially now, reducing touch points is also an important part in aiding our COVID-19 recovery.

"Lowering your paper trail and waste, and only driving when you need to, are steps we can all take to reducing our carbon footprint.

"We've made sure that everyone has easy access to pay for parking when they drive to visit our town centres, including a digital option.

"Our cash option will remain but MiPermit offers a digital and paperless alternative, and we are looking at investing in contactless card payment in the future.

"If you need to drive into one of our towns, please make sure you have a valid ticket for your stay. Otherwise, if you can, we'd love to see more people choosing to walk or cycle into town and leaving their cars behind."

Virtual tickets are available online, via the MiPermit app, by phone, and by text both in advance and on the day – allowing visitors to choose an option to suit them.

Tickets and further information can be obtained via the councils MiPermit portal.

Further electric vehicle charging points across the district, and upgrading car park machines to include a card payment option, continue to be explored.