MALVERN Hills District Council has been accused of wasting money after failing to empty the ticket machine at the Hanley Road car park in Upton during the folk festival.

Town councillors heard that the influx of people left the ticket machine full and unusable for most of the last Bank Holiday weekend.

An officer from MHDC said the council would make sure the machine was emptied prior to a busy weekend. However, this failed to satisfy the town councillors, who are to write asking for more regular emptying.

Coun Simon Wilkinson said an unusable ticket machine meant lost revenue at the town's busiest times.

"That machine was absolutely blocked solid by 11am on the Saturday," he said. "Somebody did empty it on Monday morning but it was blocked solid again by lunchtime and remained out of commission until Wednesday. The idea that they can't afford anyone to do it is madness."