GRASMERE resident, Graham Exley was issued with a £100 fine by the Windermere store after he overstayed the parking time limit whilst shopping.

Graham and his daughter both received a parking ticket each whilst Christmas shopping in December 2019.

He believes the time limit of 2 hours is not only too short, particularly over the Christmas period, but also is displayed very poorly and is 'hardly noticeable' for the customers.

One of the two tickets issued were later cancelled by Booths. Fines can also be reduced to £50 if paid within fourteen days.

Graham said: “We both use the Lakes stores often and only ever used your car parks to shop in your stores. Never until now have either of us noticed the parking fine sign. We would anyway not normally stay for more than 1.5 hrs".

“The only warning to the customers of a distressingly harsh fine was an easily missed notice outside the store. Very many must have been unaware of it! They should take more care! They should perhaps highlight a warning notice on all customer’s till receipts”.

“When we go there, we don’t look at the signs, we don’t stay long, and no one brings it up inside or whilst we are at the tills”.

The store’s parking fines are primarily to deter walkers from leaving their cars unattended for prolong periods which often prevents shoppers from parking.

Booths have stated: “We take signage very seriously. We don’t like upsetting our customers and we don’t like giving out fines”.

“There are two parking tickets, one for Mr Exley and one for his daughter. Booths agreed to waive the charges for Mr Exley’s parking ticket as a gesture of good will”.

“In January 2019, we introduced charges on the car park, which was not an easy decision. There have been long-standing issues with the car park, the proximity to the station and town centre location, left it open to misuse, which is not fair to customers who wish to park and shop with ease”.

“The car parks are busy year round. Such is the scale of the misuse, the only option is to ensure the 2 hour maximum stay. Booths do not profit financially from the arrangement with Parking Eye and the enforcement is purely to give customers a fair chance to park”.

“We have fourteen signs and banners in the car park stating the limit".

Graham said: “Unassuming older people think they must pay their fines as quickly as possible, even if they may not have done anything wrong. £100 is a lot of money for older people".