Parking rules under review after shoppers fined

Supermarkets bosses are reviewing parking rules at a site in Suffolk within weeks of introducing them after customers were incorrectly charged.

Since August, shoppers have had to enter their number-plate into a terminal inside the East of England Co-op in Framlingham in order to benefit from 90 minutes of free parking.

But, according to parking enforcement firm Ipserv, a fault with one of the registration tablets resulted in some customers being issued fines "incorrectly".

The East of England Co-op said shoppers no longer needed to enter their vehicle details while it looked into the issue.

"We've listened to feedback from our customers," a spokesperson said.

"Parking in the car park for up to 90 minutes remains free of charge and will be monitored by ANPR cameras."

Shoppers must pay £2 if they want to park for up to two hours or £3 for up to three hours, using either the pay and display machines or a mobile phone app.

Ipserv said customers fell foul of the faulty system from 6-11 September, before apologising for the error and vowing to cancel the fees.

The Co-op also apologised back in February "for any confusion and upset" when signs spelling out new charges were installed sooner than they should have been.

It is unknown how long the review will last, but Framlingham Town Council said it would continue to "work with the Co-op".

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