AN 85-year-old man, who has worked at Berkhamsted train station car park for 14 years, has retired after machines were bought in to replace him.
Dozens of cards, books and bottles of bubbly were given to Malcolm Hodges, of Potten End, last Friday (May 2) by commuters as they said goodbye for the last time to the friendly face that has greeted them for more than a decade.
Pay and Display ma
chines being introduced has meant Mr Hodges' job organising the parking each day is now obsolete.
He was offered another post at Stansted airport, but says he thinks it is about time he took it easy.
The granddad-of-five said: "I wish everybody all the best and I will miss them. The station staff are also a lovely lot, always bringing me a newspaper every day."
He added that he loved the job and was not bitter that a machine has replaced him because it was inevitable technological progress.
One commuter who was sad to see him go was Claire Child, who has used the car park for the past eight years.
She said: "He has been a friendly face in all weathers and everyone will miss him."
The new machines are part of a multi-million pound investment by the rail provider, London Midland, to improve services across the rail network.
Of that investment £5.7million is being spent to kick-start schemes that include being able to pay for parking via mobile phones, which is currently being tested at Berkhamsted and Watford Junction.
Other projects being introduced include a scratchcard payment system to make buying tickets faster and cheaper, half price season tickets for low emission cars and free parking for electric cars.
It is also hoping that all car parks will sell tickets on site, so users will not have to buy them at the station ticket office.
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