NEW parking restrictions at a Yate supermarket have divided opinion in the town.

Last week the Gazette reported how a number of shoppers at the Lidl store on Kennedy Way were refusing to pay fines of up to £90 after a new 10 minute limit was introduced.

The budget supermarket chain said it had installed new technology, whereby cashiers enter a customer’s vehicle registration number at the checkout allowing them to park for 90 minutes for free or otherwise face a fine, to clamp down on people not shopping at Lidl from using the car park.

And this week a loyal customer of the store defended the new rules.

Julie Pryor said Lidl was ‘perfectly entitled’ to charge people for the use of its car park as the land is privately owned.

“My family and neighbours shop frequently at Lidl and for a number of months before the new parking system was introduced there have been many occasions when there have been no parking spaces available, making it very awkward for those who wish to shop there,” she said.

“We shop at Lidl frequently and since the new system has been introduced the assistants have never failed to ask us for our number plate, and the number plate recognition system is very helpful in ensuring that numbers are not typed in incorrectly.”

She added: “This does bring up the real issue at the heart of this story, which is the shortage of free parking on this side of Yate Shopping Centre, especially with the extra demands of the medical centres, Minor Injury Unit and library which put extra pressure on the available parking space.”

However, Pauline Lane, who received a £90 penalty for overstaying the 10 minute limit despite having shopped in the store and, unaware of the new rules, was not asked for her registration, remains adamant she will not use the Lidl store again.

Mrs Lane, previously a regular customer, has received cancellation of her fine after featuring in last week’s Gazette story but said it was not enough to change her mind.

“I would not have paid it because I did nothing wrong,” she said. “I only went to do my shopping.

“I shall not be shopping there again. I just think it is ridiculous, they should have informed people of what they were going to do before they did it.”