Tesco to fine £70 for parking bay offenders

 Tesco to fine £70 for parking bay offenders

Tesco shoppers face £70 fine for using parent or disabled spaces crackdown will see staff given special smartphone app to record those breaking the rules.

Supermarket chain has armed staff at 81 of its stores with smartphone app .

It is part of drive to stop motorists from parking in disabled bays at stores.

The scheme will be rolled out to 200 more locations over next few weeks.

Shoppers who park in bays meant for the disabled and parents with young children face fines of up to £70 under a crackdown by Tesco.

The supermarket chain has armed staff at 81 of its stores with a special smartphone app to record evidence.

The scheme will be rolled out to 200 more locations over the next few weeks in Tesco’s first-ever enforcement action against drivers who break the rules.

Staff use the app to take pictures of vehicles parked in disabled bays without Blue Badges or hogging the spaces set aside for parents with children under 12.

The evidence is sent to a company called Horizon Parking, which obtains driver details from the DVLA and issues a £40 penalty notice, rising to £70 unless it is paid within 14 days.

Tesco insists it will not make money from the scheme because the fines cover only running costs plus fees to Horizon, which manages 1,325 UK car parks.

A store spokesman said: ‘Many 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 space.’

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