Drivers who park at supermarket car parks such as Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are being warned over little known rules which could land you a fine to go with your food shop if you’re not careful.
Every supermarket car park has little signs dotted around them with rules and regulations about when you can park, for how long, and other general terms and conditions.
Given that most supermarket car parks are free, few people think too hard about the terms in these car parks – but they do exist.
One little known rule is about parent and child parking spaces.
In almost all supermarkets, there are dedicated spaces for parents to park with children, which used to be known as mother and child parking but have since got with the times and become dad friendly too.
What you may not realise is that these parent and child bays actually have an age limit. If your child is aged over 12, you can’t use them any more, even if you have a 13 year old in the car and you’re just nipping in for a loaf of bread and you want to park near the front of the shop.
As Avalon Motor Co explains: “In almost all supermarket car parks, you’ll find designated spaces for parent and child parking, and they’re usually closer to the store doors to save parents having to cross more of the busy car park than is necessary.
“Whilst it can seem ambiguous as to who can park there, we’re here to clear things up: you can park in a parent and child parking space if you’re entering the shop with a child that is under 12 years old.
The age of 12 is used as the limit, as this is the age up to which a child must be secured in the vehicle using child restraints, such as child car seats.
“If you’re going into the shop on your own and leaving a child with another adult in the car, you must use an ordinary parking space.”
If you’re caught using them when you’re not allowed, you could be issued with a fine, known as a Parking Charge Notice. This is because most supermarket car parks are actually run by third party companies, and some even use cameras for enforcement, and failing to pay the fine could see you landed in court.