Darlington Borough Council have issued advice on how to avoid scam texts about parking fines that need to be paid.
They say that there have been reports of texts sent to people pretending to be local councils.
The council would never ask for payment of a parking charge notice in a link as part of a text message.
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They ask that if people get such a text they should ignore it.
A Darlington Borough Council spokesperson said: "We have been made aware of a scam involving text messages sent out to members of the public claiming to be from local councils asking for payment of a PCN charge.
"Please note we would never ask for payment of a PCN via a link in a text message, if you receive such a message please ignore it."
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