Tesco’s new parent and child parking crackdown

Some shoppers back the supermarket’s move as others admit to breaking rule

Supermarket giant Tesco has brought in a new rule for their parent and child parking bays. It has wider spaces for parents and their children to help them to car seats or prams out of the car.

These wider spaces have been taken up by other drivers without children. Some Tesco supermarkets have now put new signs on the spaces warning: “Parent and child only. “Misuse of these bays may result in a PARKING CHARGE.”

Then in small print at the bottom of the sign, it reads: “This space is reserved for customers taking little shoppers into the store.”

For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here

Nat, the mother of a two-year-old herself, shared the signs on TikTok. The comments section was filled with people thanking Tesco for introducing the new rules.

“Need these everywhere,” said one, “the amount of times I see people using them with no child,” said another.

One commentator added: “Hope other shops take note,” another said.

A third agreed saying: “I hope all shops follow this.”

The new signage is currently being run as a pilot at only some Tesco stores.

“Having a toddler and being four months pregnant I really struggle to get in and out of the car,” said another person commenting on Nat’s TikTok post.

“That’s great but how are they going to police it?” someone else asked.

“I asked my local Tesco this as I saw multiple people without kids using it,” another said.

“They said apparently they have cameras now – not sure how true that is though.”

“Also if a parent sees you park without a child and you go into the shop it’s easy to take a pic of your reg and report it,” someone else wrote.

While pregnant women use parent and child bays when shopping, the rules and regulations about doing so aren’t clear.

According to the RAC, while it’s not illegal to park in one of the bays if you don’t have a child under 12 with you, you could receive a parking fine – depending on who runs the car park.

If the car park is operated by an independent parking agency, you’re more likely to be fined for parking incorrectly.

Back in 2019, Tesco confirmed via a spokesperson that: “Our bays can be used by pregnant women that require additional space.”

Sainsbury’s said that pregnant women are usually allowed to use the bays, but that should be arranged with stores.

Mums-to-be are told that they should inform staff and give them their registration number, which will then be passed onto parking attendants to ensure they don’t get a fine.

“I’m pregnant and have a 11 month old baby and there are literally never any parent child spaces available,” another woman commented on TikTok.

“Trying to fit my pregnant arse out the car in a normal space as well as trying to get my baby out is a nightmare.”

“I think what people don’t realise as well when we get abused for moaning about people using them when they don’t need to is we get comments like ‘I bet you won’t use them if they were at the back of the car park’,” someone else said.

“But I think most of us would still use the spaces if they were further away from the front doors, because we need the space to get our kids in and out of the car, not the convenience of it being at the front doors.”

“Up to what age is the child?” another asked.

“I think it’s 12,” Nat replied.

But drivers without children also commented and admitted they use the spaces.

“I use them past 9pm if I’m running into a shop because why would your kid be out at 10 getting some milk with you?” one wrote.

“I think that’s more than fair enough to be using them when kids typically won’t be out and about,” another argued.

“I would use them late at night if I didn’t have my kids with me.”

“I am guilty of parking in those spaces sometimes,” someone else wrote.

But a critic retorted: “Not an excuse when a parent or heavily pregnant woman can’t get out the car (be)cause you want to pop in and out a shop.“

Ensure our latest news and sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings