An Angus couple are more than a “Lidl” annoyed after being hit with a £90 parking charge at a Dundee supermarket.
Sheona Naismith from Carnoustie, a regular shopper at Lidl’s South Ward Road store, spent a little more than 20 minutes in the shop on June 27 after parking outside.
A week later she and her husband Don were shocked to receive a letter from Athena ANPR with a CCTV screenshot of the family car entering and leaving the car park and a penalty notice saying the allotted time for parking was just 10 minutes.
Mr Naismith said: “Are we refusing to pay it? You’d better believe it. I don’t think they’re even legal in Scotland.
“If you have any quibble with them you have to do it in writing they won’t speak to you on the phone.
“I think it’s shocking. If it had been an hour and she had gone over the time that would have been one thing but 10 minutes? You can stand in the checkout queue for 10 minutes.”
Mr Naismith added that no one at the till asked his wife for her licence plate number to register her as a legitimate customer using the car park.
A spokeswomam for Lidl said: “We apologise if Mrs Naismith was not asked for her car registration upon arriving at the checkout and would ask that she contacts the appropriate car park management company as stipulated on the parking charge notification (PCN).
“The car park management company will require proof of purchase to cancel the charge and will be able to advise on what is considered an acceptable proof of purchase.
“A number of Lidl UK car parks have parking restrictions in place to ensure that spaces are available for Lidl customers to use. The Lidl Dundee store’s parking restrictions allow non-customers to park for a maximum of 10 minutes, whereas Lidl customers are able to park for up to one hour.
“When paying for their shopping, customers are asked for their car registration, which is then inputted into the system to ensure they do not receive a PCN.”