A Tesco superstore in Leeds has been slammed for fining shoppers who visit other buildings nearby during their weekly shop after leaving their vehicle in the car park.
The supermarket giant's new policy fines drivers £60 for using its car park at the Seacroft Green Shopping Centre if they go into any of the other buldings on the site, even if they shop at Tesco afterwards.
The fine will rise to £100 if not paid within 28 days or appealed.
A spokesperson for Tesco confirmed that the fines may subsequently be cancelled, but only if car park users can prove they have shopped exclusively in nearby stores and they keep to the four hour time limit.
Other buildings at Seacroft Green include a library, a post office, the Seacroft Clinic, the job centre and the Deacon House college building.
'We are asking for the cancellation of all fines previously issued'
Killingbeck and Seacroft councillors David Jenkins, Katie Dye and Paul Drinkwater are calling on Tesco to scrap the fines and claim it is a 'serious injustice'.
Cllr David Jenkins (Lab, Killingbeck and Seacroft) said Tesco had 'used a hammer to crack a nut'.
He said: "This is a serious injustice as many vital public services are accessed via the car park, including a library, post office and clinic which are especially important to older people, as well as a college accessed by young people. This is further evidenced by a petition organised by the Postmaster which in three days has drawn over 500 signatures.
“We understand that Tesco want to keep spaces free for their customers, but they have used a hammer to crack a nut. The simple 4 hour time restriction does solve the problem of commuters parking there all day and potentially use the park as a park and ride facility.
"We are calling on them to think again and come up with a scheme that doesn’t penalise people who rely on the vital services accessed from the car park. We are also asking for the cancellation of all fines previously issued. We would like the current arrangement to be withdrawn as soon as possible so that discussions can take place.
"Sadly we have hit a brick wall when we tried since February to engage with the car park’s operators. We would like to meet them so they can understand the impact their actions are having and so we can implore them to have a rethink."
A Tesco spokesperson said: “The car park at our Seacroft Extra store has a four hour limit on free parking for customers using the shops on Seacroft Green Shopping Centre.
“This was introduced to ensure there was enough parking for customers as non-customers were using the car park and travelling elsewhere.
“Fines will be cancelled for car park users who can show they have been customers at any of the stores at the centre and have kept to the four limit.
“Following feedback from customers we instructed parking wardens to allow a grace period for those users leaving the centre to use the neighbouring post office and other services. We be happy to have further discussions with council representatives about this issue.”
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