Sheffield health worker angry over £70 fine for parking in Tesco car park after spending £50 in the shop

After spending over £50 at the company’s Rotherham Tesco Extra, Simon Jones was stunned to later receive the fine for parking in the store car park from APCOA Parking.

He received his fine several weeks after he had shopped at the store, and had thrown the receipt out by then.

Simon had parked in a disabled bay with a disabled friend – not realising he had to have a parking ticket validated, or face a fine.

He said: “I can see an issue if people park and go into the town instead but it’s the heavy handed tactics and wording on the PCN (parking charge notice) that upset me the most.

“We used to shop at John Lewis in Sheffield and staff would always ask if you needed a parking token as you checked out.

“It appears that if you don't see the signs then you are liable for a £70 fine.

“It was the first time we had visited the store in Rotherham so were not aware of the parking validation required as this is not required in Sheffield. We used a disabled bay to park in and did not see any notices. I think there needs to be much clearer signage for first time visitors.”

Tesco told him a time limit and minimum spend has been introduced because customers told them they found it difficult to find a space during busy periods due to people parking at the store all day, adding there were 64 signs to make customers aware.

An APCOA Parking spokesperson said: “We are sorry that Mr Jones feels he has been unfairly treated. Our client, Tesco, has already responded to him explaining the reasons that parking validation is required at this store and the extensive signage that is in place.

"However, we suggest Mr Jones follows the appeals process for the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), providing us with a copy bank statement showing proof of purchase of goods in the store; details of this process are on the PCN.

"All APCOA Parking operations comply with the British Parking Association Approved Operators Scheme standards and appeals are fairly assessed.”