TESCO have been praised for introducing a new rule for their parent and child parking bays.
The has long had the wider spaces for and their offspring, particularly meant for those who struggle to get car seats or prams out of the car.
Tesco have been praised after introducing a new rule for their parent and child parking baysCredit: TikTok/natbeee
The wider spaces are intended for parents who struggle to get their kids’ car seats or prams out of the carCredit: Getty
However, the spaces have also long been by other drivers, many of whom use them without children.
So, in a bid to reduce the amount of non-parents using the bays, some of the supermarkets have put new signs on the spaces.
The signs read: “Parent and child only.
“Misuse of these bays may results in a PARKING CHARGE.”
In smaller print at the bottom of the sign, it reads: “This space is reserved for customers taking little shoppers into the store.”
Nat, who is mum to a two-year-old herself, took to TikTok to share a snap of one of the signs.
And the comments section was immediately filled with people thanking Tesco for introducing the new rules.
“Need these everywhere,” one wrote.
“The amount of times I see people using them with no child!”
“Hope other shops take note,” another said.
“I hope all shops follow this,” a third agreed.
“Having a toddler and being 4 months pregnant I really struggle to get in and out of the car.”
“That’s great but how are they going to police it?” someone else commented.
“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.
Can you park in a parent and child bay if you're pregnant?
WHILE many pregnant women use parent and child bays when shopping, the rules and regulations about doing so are actually pretty murky.
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 are more likely to receive a fine for parking there incorrectly.
However, 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 this should be arranged with individual stores.
Apparently, mums-to-be 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.
Expectant mothers should make themselves known to staff in the store, who will make note of the registration number – to be passed on to parking attendants who will then be aware of the situation.
“You’ll get caught eventually!”
“I’m pregnant and have a 11 month old baby and there are literally never any parent child spaces available,” another commented.
“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 there 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 there were also those in the comments section who admitted they use the spaces WITHOUT kids.
“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.
“My bad!”
To which another hit back: “Not an excuse when a parent or heavily pregnant woman cant get out the car cause you want to pop in and out a shop.“
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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