The "majority" of Cornwall's council parking machines have been out of order because the company employed to empty them has staff shortages.

Philip Desmonde, Cabinet member for transport, sent out an email to all councillors to explain the situation after concerns were raised last week that the council could be missing out on thousands of pounds of income due to machines not being emptied and out of order.

In his email he said that the "majority" of machines in council-owned car parks were going out of order due to the contractors – G4S – "not meeting their contractual obligations". Councillors were told that last week 32 parking machines in Cornwall were full and so out of action.

Cllr Desmonde said that urgent meetings are set to be held this week with G4S to try and resolve the issue. However, he warned that it could take time to recruit and train the staff needed to carry out the task.

Since the report last week regarding the machines not being emptied in Porthcurno many people have suggested that other car parks in Cornwall have not had parking charges for months.

In his email to councillors Cllr Desmonde said:

"Following concerns raised in relation to the number of pay and display machines that are being reported as out of service throughout the county, I have asked officers to investigate this matter and provide me with an update.

"The Parking Service have confirmed that the majority of machines are going out of service as a direct result of the cash collection contractors (G4S) not meeting their contractual obligations, and have therefore met with them earlier in the week to discuss how this is impacting on service provision to the public."

He then provided a statement from parking manager Craig Taylor, which states:

"G4S have been, and are still struggling to recruit/retain the staff they need to fulfil their cash collection contract for Cornwall.

"To put this into context they would normally have approx 15 staff cash collecting but currently have four.

"They are sending us an action plan of how they plan to address this next week. But even if they are able to source staff, the training process apparently takes a minimum of six weeks, but can take up to six months due to the vetting process involved.

"This is causing a significant issue for our pay and display machines across Cornwall which are filling up and then effectively can't accept further cash until they are emptied. As of Monday this week – machines were full.

"The Civil Enforcement Team have thankfully been assisting with pulling cash boxes. In 'normal' times they would support G4S by pulling 4-5 cash boxes a week. They have been pulling 4-5 cash boxes a day.

"The team has now registered their concerns, and confirmed that this can no longer continue due to several factors, but the key one being that the staff do not have the correct protection to carry that amount of cash and it poses a significant health and safety risk to them.

G4S said in a statement:

"Working closely with Cornwall Council, we have prioritised collections to ensure all the services we deliver proceed as planned."

Some have claimed that the amount of lost revenue could run into millions and suggested that it could have been used to fund leisure services which are currently under threat of closure.

However, it is important to point out that car parking revenue is ringfenced and can only be spent on transport services.

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