CAMDEN Council is poised to scrap visitor parking scratch-cards while switching to an online-only payment system that community groups say “discriminates against older people’s human rights”.

The switch, which is expected to be confirmed next month, would disproportionately affect disabled people and those who struggle with computers.

The council says the option to pay via the phone will remain in its new regime.

John Saynor, chair of West Hampstead Amenity & Transport (WHAT), said: “We did a survey of our members and a great many of them are elderly and complain it would cause them an awful of trouble and worry that Camden just hasn’t really thought about this.

“Camden says you can phone up instead but it takes you to a call centre and you just hang on and hang on, and you still need to have an online account.

“Camden has a good record of looking after the less able and less well-off of the community.

“They pride themselves on being a very good authority and they do a very good job, but they’re a little bit blind to this issue.”

In a survey conducted by WHAT, one critic said: “I cannot emphasise how much this proposal would impact our life – it is nothing more than discrimination against the older generation and against our human rights.”

Peter Wallace, of the Belsize Society, said: “The Belsize Society fully supports the campaign by community organisations to save scratchcards for visitor parking.

“We believe scrapping scratchcards would have a discriminatory impact on older, vulnerable and less affluent residents who may not have online access.”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We have a duty to make our services accessible and this proposal, which is still to be decided, would provide both a non-digital and digital way for residents to pay for visitors parking.

“Residents who wish to would be able to call a phone line to request a visitor parking permit, alongside other online arrangements too.”