The sign showing additional car parking space at Lidl, Finisklin.
A Sligo woman who popped into a supermarket to do some shopping and later have a cup of coffee in an adjacent restaurant was shocked when she returned to her car to see it clamped.
The woman was distraught at having to pay €120 fine after parking at Lidl on Finisklin Road in Sligo.
She went shopping at the store on Thursday 16th May and parked her car in what a sign stated was an additional car park behind the store. She came back after an hour only to find that her car had been clamped.
She told The Sligo Champion that she is very upset at what happened.
“I went into the additional car park behind Lidl at 12.32pm and went in to the store. Then I stopped at the cáfe in front of the store to have a coffee. I came back at 1.32pm and was shocked to see the clamp. Another customer who was there saw me worried and went into the store to get someone.
“This store employee told me that I was parked in the wrong area. I told him that I could read English and that a sign clearly stated, ‘additional car park.’
“It was all in vain though and I had to pay a fine of €120 to a Dublin based clamping company and after almost an hour the person responsible for clamping came to de-clamp my car.
“I was in shock and despair all day. I don’t mind paying the fine if I am in the wrong, but I don’t want to pay for something that wasn’t right.”
She further said that these incidents have become very common, and it needs to be highlighted as €120 is not a small amount for people to pay for doing nothing wrong.
“The customer who called the store employee told me that an old lady was also clamped in the same area earlier that morning. She was devastated as well.
“I have been trying to resolve this issue through Lidl management but have got no response at all. I went to the store on Saturday again and found that the sign that said additional car park has been removed from there.”
The Sligo Champion went to the store to get a response but the manager was not available at the time. The removed sign was spotted half lying in the car park at another spot.