A Broughty Ferry supermarket plans to install car number plate recognition cameras on its premises to cut down on parking congestion.
M&S Food on Brook Street hopes to install two wall mounted Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in its car parks.
Proposals to approve the cameras will go before councillors at the city’s planning committee on Monday.
The cameras can identify individual car license plates as they enter a parking facility or street to show how long that vehicle has stayed in that particular location.
The technology is already used in car parks in the city centre, including the Lidl supermarket on Marketgait.
A spokesperson for M&S could not give details on how long customers would be able to leave their vehicles in the car park once clocked by the cameras, or whether they would have to purchase something from the store to validate their stay.
Council officers have recommended the camera proposals for approval, subject to a number of planning conditions.
A single letter of objection has been received by the local authority, which opposes the installation of the devices on the basis the cameras could point toward private residential properties across from store.
In response to the objection, the council said: “In terms of the impact on privacy, the agent has submitted photographs which show examples of other ANPR cameras and how they face towards the ground.
“The cameras are to recognise car registration numbers and it has been confirmed by the agent that they will be pointed towards the ground level and towards the vehicles number plates only. They would not be aimed at houses.”
Enforcement of fines and operation of the car park will be carried out by Euro Car Parks.
A number of private parking companies across Tayside have come under fire from local politicians in recent months.
Firms appointed by private parking groups to retrieve unpaid fines are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, unlike those tasked with recovering unpaid consumer debt.
Last year, in what was regarded a landmark ruling, former Fintry woman Carly Mackie was ordered by a judge to pay £24,000 worth of parking fines accrued on West Victoria Dock Road outside her family home.
