Angry Asda shoppers have hit out at the supermarket giant after customers at a store in Birmingham discovered they faced a £70 fine for parking longer than just 30 minutes at a 24-hour store.
Shoppers using the Asda store in Queslett were outraged after they noticed the parking restrictions had changed for late-night shopping, BirminghamLive reports.
New rules brought in by the store meant that customers visiting between the hours of 10pm and 6am were given just half an hour to get all of their shopping done, or risk facing a hefty fine.
The restrictions left shoppers baffled, as the store is open around-the-clock on weekdays.
Angry customers branded the new rules as "ridiculous" and "madness" as they took to social media to vent their frustration, with some even threatening to boycott the West Midlands store.
One woman said: "Absolutely ridiculous I for one can’t get my shopping done in 30 minutes!!"
Another pointed out that the rules were unfair to those who work late. They wrote: "What about shift workers who, for example, finish work at 10pm and want to do their weekly shop? Do they have to do a trolley dash so they don’t get fined? Madness!!"
She added: "These parking hours don’t make sense if the store's open 24 hrs."
Asda said that the restrictions had been put in place following complaints about misuse at the store, and shoppers claimed that "boy racers" had been taking over the car park at night.
One man said: "[It's] because of the boy racers treating it as a meeting place and race track. At weekends the noise is awful."
Another said: "It’s a good initiative as there’s so many young idiots using the car park as a dossing ground and race track…However, this time restraint does appear to be a little too restrictive as many people will do their big shop after 10pm."
But one customer said that the kids hadn't been "causing any trouble", adding: "I regularly go in after 10pm and one end of the car park is full of kids in cars, not usually causing any trouble that I have witnessed but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the reason why."
Since facing criticism from their customers, Asda has now decided to make a U-turn on its decision, revealing that the restrictions have been "reverted following customer feedback".
A spokesperson for the supermarket said: "Customers can now park at our Queslett store for up to three hours between the hours of 10pm and 6am on weekdays.
"We hope that the three-hour limit will provide customers with plenty of time to do their shopping and make use of the other services at this store."
