Who can use parent and child bays at supermarkets?
Walesonline have done some research on who should, and shouldn’t, be using parent and child bays.
I hate it when I go to the supermarket with the kids and you see lone adults getting back into their car which is parked in a parent and child bay. My nearest Asda store has such a busy car park and it can be difficult to try and walk through the car park safely with 3 children.
Nothing seems to be done about people who use parent and child bays when they shouldn’t and I think most people who park there without children don’t understand just how frustrating it actually is to us parents.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said that spaces at its stores are rarely misused by customers, but the guidelines are that they should be for parents with children under 12 years old.
“Our parking attendants patrol the parent/child spaces to make sure they are being used only by customers with children.
“If our attendants find any customers misusing these spaces, they will in the first instance ask them to move, and if they refuse, they will be issued with a Parking Charge Notice.”
Asda say it dedicates 6% of its car park to child and parent spaces, equal to the number it dedicates to Blue Badge holders.
“We allow parents with children up to 12 years old travelling in a child/booster seat to park in these specific spaces, and have dedicated attendants who monitor the car park,” said an Asda statement.
“Safety of children is paramount so our child and parent parking spaces are situated close to the store with a safety walkway around the edge to help parents keep their children safe while loading their car with shopping or pushchairs.”
“We offer parent and child car parking spaces at all of our standard stores across the UK. These spaces are positioned in a convenient location to allow customers with children easy access to the store,” a spokesperson for the supermarket said in a statement.
“Although we don’t enforce strict regulations, the parent and child car parking spaces are honoured and appreciated by the large majority of our customers.”
Tesco
A Tesco spokesperson said the bays are for customers who are shopping with primary school aged children, toddlers and babies.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for all our customers to shop with us, including people with young children, so we offer designated wider spaces within a convenient distance to our stores’ entrances.”
