THE new pound coin looks set to cost Cheshire West and Chester Council more than £5,000.

The 12-sided coin, which comes into circulation in March, has been designed to combat counterfeiters, who have flooded the UK with around 45 million fake £1 coins.

New security features on the coin include a hologram-like image that changes from a £ symbol to the number one when the coin is seen from different angles.

However, the current pay and display machines will need to be reconfigured in preparation for the new coins.

Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC), which operates more than 61 pay and display machines, estimates the cost of carrying out software upgrades to their machines will cost £5,025.

Cllr Karen Shore, CWAC cabinet member for the environment said: “The new UK £1 coin will be introduced in March.

“We will be converting 61 payment machines in car parks across the borough before the coin is released.

“The conversion only takes a few minutes per machine and is unlikely to cause any inconvenience to people using the car parks as the work will take place during the least busy periods.”

The current £1 coin will be legal tender alongside the new coin until October 15, 2017.

The public is being urged to use their current £1 coins or bank them before the October deadline, when they will lose their legal tender.