A Lidl supermarket has introduced camera-controlled ten-minute free parking, with anyone who doesn't buy something in the shop hit with a ?90 fine if they stray over. Is this fair? Have your say in out latest Money Moral.
Too harsh? A branch of Lidl offers a ?ten-minute free stay? parking policy with a ?90 fine for overstaying (file picture of a Lidl supermarket)
Parking restrictions and the tickets that ensue have a become a menace to modern-day society in many people's eyes.
Rules that were initially welcomed to encourage considerate parking have morphed into being seen as a money-making wheeze for councils and businesses.
Even the most cautious of parkers can find themselves caught out, now they can get hit with a fine while shopping, visiting friends or family, attending a medical appointment or parking at a station.
Meanwhile, town centre shops argue charges drive away business and some campaigners claim they prevent people visiting elderly relatives, and family or friends in hospitals.
Budget supermarket Lidl has come under fire for offering ?ten-minute free stay? parking, enforced by cameras and giving visitors a ?90 fine if they stay a second over the limit.
A branch in Kent has installed the system to catch those who do not buy anything at the store.
Signs, under control of firm Athena ANPR, warn that by entering this ?private land? drivers agree to the parking contract, this means they must theoretically pay the fine if they overrun ? or face debt collectors and even county court action.
Is this a justifiable way of keeping its car park free for its own shoppers?
Or is this a sledgehammer to crack a nut that provides just another example of Britain's heavy-handed parking enforcement?
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-2711800/Is-Lidl-s-ten-minute-free-parking-90-fine-overstay-going-far.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
but ya technically not parked if your still in the car
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