A regular at Bromley Sainsbury’s Megastore has told how she is considering swapping to Tesco as she fears receiving more fines from the “ridiculous” and “faulty” new car parking system.

Rita Norman, 78, who has lived in Bromley North since 1987, explained that she believes that many customers have received fines from the new Euro Car Parks system due to broken validation machines.

Parking at the Sainsbury’s Megastore on Walters Yard is free, as long as you have shopped in the store.

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However, Rita claims that many people, including herself, have received unwarranted fines even after processing the tickets correctly.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s has said that the ticket machines are now “temporarily out of use” and “they have suspended the parking restrictions”.

Rita told News Shopper: “Lots and lots of people have had parking fines from there.

“I always validate my ticket, so we were really shocked to get a letter to say that we were being fined for parking there.

“You're scared to go in there at the minute - because of all this. I'm saving all my shopping receipts and the validation ticket and keeping them in an envelope for a month in case I get another one.

“We're thinking that we might shop in Tesco instead from now on because it is taking your time up and you are always worrying that you will end up having to sort another fine.”

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Euro Car Parks cameras clock customers' car registration numbers as they enter the car park. The customer is then required to go into Sainsbury's to ask for validation tickets.

These tickets are then taken outside to machines where you type in your registration and use the ticket to validate that you have visited Sainsbury’s.

Rita said it seemed that the store had been continuously having problems with the validation machines.

She added: “I just think that there are so many people out there now that have got these fines.

“The girls at the tills were saying ‘we have had tickets too and the managers have as well’.

“Every time you go in Sainsbury’s you hear somebody saying ‘I've had two tickets. What's going on?’ Everyone is up in arms.

“What upset me was I was in the store a few weeks ago and this little old lady was almost in tears saying ‘I've got a ticket and I don't know what to do’.

“She said to me ‘I always validate, and I did everything I'm supposed to do'.

“There are a lot of people that are older and they don't understand this system, so they think they've done something wrong.

“I've heard a lot of older people are just paying the £50 straight away so they don't get fined £85 further down the line.

“It's really just ridiculous. This car parking system doesn’t work, and I would like to see it changed to something more simple.

“I mean, it's obviously not working if the machines keep breaking down all the time as well.”

Reviews on the store’s Facebook page and Google Maps suggest that others have been facing these issues.

One reads: “Did anyone receive a parking ticket on July 23, 2022, at the Bromley store?

“We were informed by store staff on that day that the machines to validate the parking were not working so we did not need a QR code when we asked for one.

“All the machines outside the store had out-of-order signs on them and we received a fine a few days later.

“We appealed straight away and waited six weeks for Euro car park to respond and have been told it has been rejected.”

Another says: “Stopped going there since they introduced the new complicated parking system.”

Rita said the car parking system was changed a few months ago and the validation machines are currently out of use and covered up with black covers.

She considered the previous parking system, where customers were provided with tickets at barriers and were then required to have it validated in Sainsbury's, worked well. 

Euro Park did eventually cancel Rita’s fine after she challenged it with evidence from her credit card statement, but she pointed out that she was lucky she had this information as she did not keep the validation ticket or receipt because she thought they had done everything correctly.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “Due to the ticket machines being temporarily out of use at our Bromley superstore, we have suspended the parking restrictions.

“We are working hard to have them fixed as soon as possible and are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

“The parking system in place ensures our customers can always get a space when shopping with us.”

Euro Car Parks has been approached for comment.

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