A prank which saw fake out of order stickers placed onto payment machines in a north Suffolk car park last week could have lost Waveney District Council revenue.

The council was alerted to the hoax, which took place in a car park in the Thoroughfare, Halesworth, last Thursday, and posted onto its Facebook page: “Unfortunately, fake out of order stickers have been placed on pay and display machines in a Halesworth car park.

“The stickers, seen in the town’s Thoroughfare car park, were not produced by the council, nor our operational partners Waveney Norse.

“Were there to be a malfunction at any time, this would be clearly indicated on the screen and an inspector would rectify the matter. Please do not be fooled!

“This activity, designed to defraud the Council of the revenue we need to fund important services, has been reported to the police.”

A statement released by Waveney District Council said: “We were made aware of the situation by our parking officers and issued a statement via our own Facebook page, which was picked up by various other pages.

“No parking fines have been issued as a result of the fake stickers.”

The extent of revenue which could have been lost as a result has not yet been confirmed.

A spokesperson for Suffolk police said: “Police are aware of this report regarding the ticket machines in Halesworth but at this time no criminal offence has taken place.

“Safer Neighbourhood Team officers are monitoring the situation.”