The call comes after a QR code was found stuck to a sign in one of the council-run car parks.

And a member of the public reported to the Parking Unit that they had received the following text message:

Colin Park, Head of Roads, Transportation and Fleet Services, said: “Similar messages have been doing the rounds over the last year so we would like to highlight that the council will never send members of the public a text message requesting payment.

“So please do not respond to any texts requesting parking fine payments and do not use QR codes to pay for any parking.”

Parking should only be paid at pay stations, either using coins or more conveniently the RingGo parking app

Please report any QR codes using the Parking enquiry form.