Ipswich woman charged £40 for parking at Tesco Extra

The incident took place at Tesco Extra, near Copdock, where Janette Carr had gone to buy groceries on a Monday evening. 

The Ipswich resident spent £214.27, on a big shop for a party the next day and then set off home. 

However, she was shocked that on top of that, the store charged her £40 for parking longer than an hour. 

Mrs Carr came back to the store to question this charge but realised that on three separate boards, it said that £40 would be charged to anyone parking for longer than an hour between 8pm and closing time.

She said: "It was written on three different boards, amongst a bunch of other points and literally no one was aware of this rule being changed.

"They are penalising working people by putting this rule in, and this will drive customers away.

"Like I for one am not coming back to this Tesco anymore."

She said she was not going to come back to Tesco because of this incident. (Image: Janette Carr)

She added that she would have understood if these charges were put in place at a Tesco Express in the town centre, but does not understand the need for it being put in a huge Extra store. 

A Tesco spokesperson said that this rule was displayed earlier this year to allow the store to manage their parking spaces better and deter any anti-social behaviour.

Tesco said that the rule was made to manage parking spaces and deter anti-social behaviour. (Image: Google Maps)

They said: “The introduction of these restrictions was advertised at the store for several weeks before they came into force and signage at both the entrance to the car park and within the car park itself clearly displays the time limits.”

When Mrs Carr tried to object to the charge, she was told to contact the store's manager over email - but she received no response. 

However, the fine, stated that if she did not promptly pay the amount then it would rise to £70.