The Corporation of Hamilton is allowing motorists to park in City Hall car park for free this weekend as a gesture of goodwill.

The move comes after the new paid barrier system went into operation on Monday.

The corporation acknowledged there had been some “teething pains” with credit card payments functioning intermittently.

“It’s not unusual for a large new system implementation such as this to have teething problems,” Ed Benevides, the City’s chief operating officer, said.

“We appreciate the public’s patience and are offering free parking all weekend, from 6am tomorrow morning.”

The new system was implemented to discourage people from parking all day in the short term parking zone, and according to city engineers that has worked.

A statement released by the corporation this afternoon said: “It is the City’s hope that motorists will honour the three-hour limit during the free parking period tomorrow and allow opportunity for other shoppers to park in the car park.”

The technical issues with the payment processing is being worked on and it is anticipated to be fully functioning by Monday.

The paid barrier system will take effect again on Monday morning from 6am.