Abbey Wood man blasts Lidl for slapping girlfriend with £90 parking fine - despite shopping at the Welling store

Mark McCarry outside Lidl in Welling

Mark McCarry, 57, of Tyeshurst Close, was in ‘complete shock’ after his partner Jenny Essex, 60, used 23 minutes of her allocated free 90 minute parking but still received the fine on October 30.

A new system at Lidl was recently put in place where customers give staff their registration details in order to get free parking.

Mr McCarry claims the woman at the till did not take down Ms Essex’s registration details and so she drove home "confused and flustered".

He said: “My girlfriend saw other customers complaining to the lady behind the till and because she was dealing with so many people - she forgot to ask Jenny for her details.

A close-up of the parking ticket handed to Ms Essex

“Six days later, a very threatening letter came through our door saying something like ‘pay the £90 fine or we’ll take you to court.’

“My problem with Lidl is that they don’t seem interested in helping their customers which is shocking.

“I feel angry because I’ve been let down and ripped off.”

When Mr McCarry contacted Lidl’s customer service - they allegedly sent him an email telling him to take it up with the ticket company which operate the car park.

When you enter and leave the car park, cameras take a picture of your registration plate, so there is no physical ticket.

The sign informing customers of the £90 fine

The retired south east London resident added: “As you enter Lidl, there is a sign which tells you of the new rules regarding ticket fines.

“But, does anyone really read the small font on a small sign?

“Jenny was quite unsettled by all the noise of the complainers so she paid for her two items and came home while thinking that she did not do anything wrong.

“This is why the parking penalty is extremely unfair because she was using the store to do her shopping.”

Lidl, Welling

A Lidl spokesman said: “Our customers' wishes are paramount and shape the way that we operate as a business.

“This is why we, unfortunately, have to have management systems in a small number of our car parks.

“We encourage any genuine Lidl customers who have received a parking charge notice in error, to get in touch with us via our customer service hotline number.”