Fined £90 after getting stuck in checkout queue at Lidl

Sandra Peach, a 69-year-old grandmother from Reading, queued for 30 minutes to pay for her shopping at a Lidl store near her house. The process took so long that she and her daughter Nicky Harding (43) overstayed the 90-minute parking limit at the store - and have been fined £90.

They were stocking up for Christmas, and spent a total of £177 at the shop. But when they tried to appeal against the fine, and offered to show receipts proving they had been shopping the whole time, the store told them they couldn't do anything about the fine.
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Sandra told The Sun that she was disgusted - especially given the amount they had spent in store She added: "Talk about being like Scrooge." A Lidl spokesperson told the newspaper that they would investigate.

Not the first

The controversial charges have been in place in a number of stores since 2013 - and have been brought in by stores with over-crowded parking areas. In some instances there is a separate limit for those who don't buy anything from the store - who have to pay the fine if they stay longer than ten minutes.

Since the fines have been introduced there have been some shocking cases. In December last year an 85-year-old woman from Sevenoaks, who suffers from Osteoarthritis (and as a result walks very slowly), was fined £90 after staying for an hour and five minutes buying food and Christmas presents in Lidl. The August before, a blind pensioner was fined for overstaying, because her carer had taken more than 60 minutes to walk her around the store.

What can you do?

Lidl encourages any shopper who is unhappy with a fine to call the customer service hotline number, provide proof of purchase, and Lidl will appeal the charge with the car park operator on their behalf.

They add that if anyone has mobility issues, they should contact the customer services team before visiting a store, and they will try to make separate parking arrangements for them.

In general, however, if you park in a private car park, you are duty bound to abide by the rules. As long as the rules have been clearly displayed, then by parking there, you have entered into a contract. If you overstay, you have broken the rules of that contract, so you must pay the fine.

If you had a good reason for overstaying, and the car park operator is a member of the British Parking Authority, then they must offer a procedure for complaints, so you can appeal.

If they turn your appeal down, but you believe they are wrong to do so, then you can hold out and wait for them to take you to court. You can argue that you didn't break the rules, or that you had a good reason for overstaying at the store. You can also argue that the fine is unfair and disproportionate. However, a court of appeal ruling in April found that £85 wasn't an 'excessive charge' - so if your fine is around this level, you may not have any luck with that approach.

Some people are happy to take their chances, in the hope that the firm won't bother chasing them through the courts, because the sums involved are relatively small. However, there are plenty of cases that do make it to court, so you may not be one of the lucky ones. If you end up in court, you will need to be prepared for the fact the court could still find in their favour, and you will have to pay admin costs and fees on top of the original fine.