A PARKING meter repair man was jailed for two and a half years yesterday after stealing £70,000 from machines while he worked.

Arthur Blay, 48, of Victoria Road, Fleur-de-Lys, took the money from machines owned by Bristol City Council between January 2002 and November 2008, in what a judge described as a “gross breach of public trust”.

He was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to 24 counts of theft.

Prosecutor Mark Hollier said Bristol City Council first received information that money was being stolen from pay and display machines in October 2006. But, following a spate of vandal attacks on machines, an investigation proved inconclusive.

In July 2008, the council began investigating Blay after receiving a complaint that he was deliberately jamming machines in order to steal from them.

The court heard that pay and display machines do not record money until a ticket is issued and coins drop into a box.

It was suspected that Blay was jamming machines and collecting the coins.

An investigation found other maintenance engineers on Blay’s team fixed jams totalling around £700 daily, while he only recorded around £220.

He was also opening a large number of machines for no apparent reason, the court heard.

Suspicions were further raised by the fact Blay often began work at 5.30am, while his official start time was 7am. Also, 82 per cent of machines visited by him had apparently suffered jams, while the rest of his team recorded percentages of 25, seven and nought.

He was caught after the council contacted police, who doused coins in Smartwater, which can be viewed under ultra-violet light.

Blay was arrested on November 26 2008, with £3,727 worth of coins in his van, many doused with Smartwater.

Defending Blay, Christopher Jervis, said “he succumbed to temptation and kept doing so”.

He said the defendant has no assets, owes £2,200 for household bills and rents a property, with “no evidence of high living”.

He added: “Perhaps this illustrates his inability to manage household bills without indulging in theft.”

Judge Carol Hagen said: “This was a gross breach of public trust. Aggravated by the fact you persisted for six years, doubtless because it was easy.”

Blay was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for each count, to run concurrently, and he must serve half.

A Proceeds of Crime Act investigation will look into his assets.

A Bristol City Council spokeswoman welcomed the sentence, adding: “We have strengthened our procedure for the careful management of staff responsible for taking cash from machines.”