Newport woman calls for extended car park limits after multiple fines

Margaret Hinwood, from St Julian's, Newport, has described the time limits at different supermarkets for car parking as "unfair" after she and her partner received two parking charge notices on separate occasions for being parked over the stated time limit. 

A regular shopper at Lidl in Cwmbran on Woodside Road, Ms Hinwood received parking charges in August and September this year of £45 each after she was deemed to have gone over the car park's time limit of an hour and a half. 

Margaret Hinwood has called for supermarket car park limits to be extended during busy periods (Image: Margaret Hinwood) She believes the time limit is "very difficult" to keep to, particularly during busy periods of the day, and feels that they do not reflect when most people do their shopping.

She told the Argus: "I don't think it's fair that the time limit is the same regardless of time of day.  When I went in August, I went in at 2.50pm, and noticed it was quite busy. 

"I wondered if it was a bit busier because the children were just about to go back to school, and it took me over an hour before I got to the till.

"I had 216 items in my trolley, and it took me ten minutes to get through the till, meaning that I didn't have a lot of time to pack my shopping into bags, put it in my car and leave as it was near the parking limit. 

"By the time I paid for my shopping, packed it up and put it in my car, it was 25 minutes later, at 4.35pm, so I was 15 minutes over the time limit."

Ms Hinwood says that other supermarkets have different time limits on their car parks, and doesn't believe that it is fair for them to have this difference and be able to charge people for going over the time limits during busy periods. 

She explained: "It can be so difficult to stick to those time limits during busy periods when you don't know how long it will take."

The parking limit at Lidl Cwmbran is currently 90 minutes every day (Image: Margaret Hinwood) Following these incidents, Ms Hinwood eventually paid both parking charges, one of which was increased to £90 as she paid a day late, but feels that the car parks should extend time limits to match the busier periods. 

She said: "I think it is completely unfair for these places to expect someone who shops at the busier times of the day to be able to leave within the allocated time, compared to someone who shops when it is quiet. 

"I wish they would adapt their time limits to reflect this."

Parking Eye, the operators of the car park in Lidl Cwmbran, confirmed that Ms Hinwood had gone over the automated enforced time limit twice, got two charges, and that she paid both without appealing.

Lidl did not respond to a request for comment.