Thieves made off with two parking ticket machines from Lion Green Road car park in Coulsdon this morning.
Neil Ridulfa from Cycling Made Easy, opposite the car park, said customers had told him the machines had been stolen.
He said: "Someone came in the shop, they had gone to the car park this morning and the ticket machines were ripped out of the ground and gone."
He added council employees were working to replace them earlier this afternoon.
A council spokesman said: "Two pay-and-display machines in Lion Green Road car park were unlawfully removed in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday).
"The matter is now in the hands of the police, and the council is unwilling to comment further at this stage.
"A new pay-and-display machine has been installed and is operational. Motorists also, of course, have the option of paying for parking via their mobile phone, using the RingGo cashless parking system."
