Misuse the disabled bay and you’ll pay

Supermarket will fine drivers £40

TESCO stores in west London will fine shoppers £40 if they misuse the disabled parking bays.

It is part of a nationwide scheme to clamp down on bad parking.

A spokesperson for the supermarket said the plan was on trial at 81 stores, before being rolled out to 200 others, although they would not confirm which branches in west London would be targeted first.

The spokesman said: “Many of our disabled customers rely on our disabled parking bays, so we’ve introduced our self-monitoring initiative to highlight the importance of using the bays properly, making it fairer and easier for everyone to find a parking space in Tesco.”

The company has insisted it will not make money from the scheme, but feels a closer eye needs to be kept on the misuse of bays – including those who park in the children’s bay incorrectly.

Tesco’s car park operations executive Cat Parkinson said: “The new self-monitoring allows stores to better control their car park, to help protect the disabled bays.

“Selected stores have been given a monitoring device, which enables them to issue parking charge notices to people misusing these spaces. This makes parking at Tesco fairer for everyone.”

She added: “We want to change attitudes towards the misuse of disabled bays by highlighting the importance of disabled bays being used properly. I hope the scheme will help our disabled customers shop with ease in our stores.” CLAMP DOWN:

We want to change attitudes towards misuse of bays