Shoppers hunting for spaces at a Swansea city centre supermarket face a new parking meter system.
People will only be able to enjoy an hour's free parking at Tesco's Swansea Marina store, but if they want to be able to stay for an extra hour they will have to splash out a minimum of £3 in store. Up until now, the car park has always been free to use.
A spokesman for the supermarket giant said the move was designed to free up more spaces for customers.
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Pictures of the new machines have been shared on social media after recently being installed.
Plans for a number plate recognition camera and ticket machines were originally rubber-stamped by Swansea Council due to the pressure the car park was claimed to be under.
It means drivers at the Oystermouth Road site will have their number plates logged when they drive in.
In a previous planning submission, Tesco said the car park reached 98% occupancy on the busiest day of the week. It added that parking spaces regularly exceeded 80% occupancy on most days, more than its preferred 75% figure to allow for “good circulation.”
Swansea Council had originally stated, when the supermarket was first built earlier this century, that parking should be free, to boost trade in the city centre, but it has now agreed to the restrictions, after hearing Tesco's application.
A spokesperson for Tesco said: “Shoppers at our Swansea Marina store have told us for some time that they have found it really difficult to find parking spaces, and so we have brought in a new system to manage the car park.
“Shoppers are now able to park for 60 minutes for free, and for a further 60 minutes if they spend £3 in store and validate their parking at one of the new machines on site or at parktoshop.co.uk
“We hope that the new system will make it easier for customers to find a parking space when they need one.”
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