A mum was raging when she saw how one motorcyle was parked in the car park of her local Aldi store. She couldn't believe what she was seeing when she turned up to find a tiny motorbike parked in one of the parent and child bays.
Her photo of the bike has now sparked a social media row, and people are divided.
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Becze, from Fenton, says the rider took up the bay for at least an hour on Sunday (April 10) as she did the weekly shop before getting a bite to eat in the neighbouring McDonald's in Victoria Road.
The mother-of-one, who has a 16-month-old son, told StokeonTrentLive : "This guy was parking there for more than one hour. When I went in Aldi he was there and when I finished the shopping he was still there. And then when I finished with McDonald's he was still there. He was speaking in the McDonald's I think."
Seething at the man's selfish actions, Becze posted a photo of the offending bike on social media. While many shared her frustration, others insisted there were bigger problems to worry about in the world. Becze conceded that drivers often mistakenly use the bays or are only there for a few minutes - but says that wasn't the case with the biker.
She added: "If another car is parked there it doesn't bother you so much. Many times people rush and park in the wrong place. This is forgivable in my eyes. It's more difficult to park in a car but with a motorcycle it's very easy. So it is sad. Aldi staff are very fast so you can finish with your shopping quickly but he wasn't even in the store."
One woman agreed that the rider was out of order. She said: "No consideration at all, bike needs crushing by police and rider needs to be heavily fined."
Another woman added: "They should be getting fined. I see it all the time and also people with car seats in the car but no kids with them. What's the point of having the spaces if they are going to get away with parking like that."
But another woman said: "Why are people so bothered? We have a lot more going on in the world. A lot of parents park in these spaces just because they have a child seat in but no child with them." And a man simply added: "First world problems."
Becze has highlighted the issue as research shows one in four parent and child parking bays are used by people who are ineligible. The most common reason given by people who misused parent and child parking bays was that there were plenty of the spaces available, with 31% of those questioned using that excuse. A further 31% said they used the bays because they were unable to find another space in the supermarket car park.
Just over a quarter (26%) said they broke the rules because it was late at night and they did not think there would be any parents with children around. And 22% of drivers tried to justify their actions by saying they were only using the space for a few minutes.
Unless signage says otherwise, parents are free to use the bays if they are accompanied by a child aged under 12 or in a car or booster seat. Pregnant women using the spaces is considered a grey area because the signs specifically refer to parents with children.
Aldi says customers should report misuse of bays to the store manager but adds that limited staff in-store means they are unable to enforce any rules.
