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Parent and child spaces 'should be moved away from shops' to stop people using them

Parent and child spaces are for use by parents or guardians with children under the age of 12
Jack Quann
Jack Quann

15.15 18 Jan 2024


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Parent and child spaces 'shoul...

Parent and child spaces 'should be moved away from shops' to stop people using them

Jack Quann
Jack Quann

15.15 18 Jan 2024


Share this article


A mother of three children has said parent and child parking spaces should be moved away from shops to make them less attractive.

Lunchtime Live has been discussing the issue after listeners got in touch.

Mother-of-three Nikki told the show the spaces look too convenient to people without children.

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"When you're using those spaces, you need to have the kids with you," she said.

""I have three under [the age of] five so car seats take up a lot of room in my car and my car is kind of big.

"Those spaces that are in front of stores are great to use.

"I find people just use them because of their convenience, because they're close to the store and don't think about why they're there.

"They're bigger [than normal parking spaces] so you can get the kids in and out of the car safely.

"I genuinely think the solution to it is to move the mother and child spaces a little bit further away from the store, and for stores to make it extremely safe walking to the store.

If they weren't right outside the store, people wouldn't park in them as much," she added.

'It's happened a lot'

Freelance Journalist Chrissie Russell said men in vans seem to be the main culprits.

"Nothing grinds my gears more than seeing somebody swan into the parking space when I'm doing a rotation of the carpark," she said.

"One doesn't like to make generalisations, but the amount of times that it's guys in a van going in.

"Maybe they're only running in to get a sandwich or something... but yeah it's happened a lot.

"Who could possibly think that even if you've just got the car seat in the back that's like a golden ticket?

"You need the child, that's why they're there."

Enforcement

Ms Russell said there's no enforcement around who parks where.

"The shopping centre that's closest to me they are right on the ball whenever it comes to how long you leave your car there," she said.

"There's signs everywhere saying you can't be there longer than four hours.

"I feel, why on earth isn't the parking enforced with the parent and child spaces the same?

"There should be somebody out looking and saying, 'Hang on you obviously don't have a child - you're going to get fined'".

'They can be rude'

Tracy, who has a blue Disabled Person's Parking Card, told the show it is hard to challenge people on it.

"I see people parking in the mother and baby spots, the disabled spots and they don't need to be there," he said.

"I see elderly people, and I do understand the elderly people because they're closer to the stores, they might not be able to walk.

"They might not have a blue badge yet, either - it took me a while to get mine".

Tracy said she used mother and baby parking spaces with her daughter until she got her disabled badge.

"I would have often been going to use them and you see men, especially, they're as lazy," she said.

"If you've ever tried to say something, they can be rude, so I would never really say much."

Parent and child spaces are for use by parents or guardians with children under the age of 12.

Listen back here:

Main image: Parent and child car parking spaces, 25-8-17. Image: PURPLE MARBLES / Alamy

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Chrissie Russell Disabled Person's Parking Card Disabled Spots Lunchtime Live Mother And Baby Parking Parent And Child Parking Spaces Parent And Child Spaces Rules

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