Staff at the supermarket have been given smart phones with a new app to record evidence and drivers parking in marked bays without the appropriate permit will be fined.
They will take pictures of cars parked in the spaces for people with Blue Badges or children under the age of 12.
The evidence will then sent to a company called Horizon Parking, which will get the drivers’ details from the DVLA and issue a £40 fine, which goes up to £70 if it is not paid within 14 days.
According to the Daily Mail the scheme has been trialled at 81 stores and will be rolled out at a further 200 in the coming weeks.
Tesco says it is not a money-making scheme as the fines will only cover the costs plus fees.
A spokesman said: “Many disabled customers rely on our disabled parking bays, so we’ve introduced our self-monitoring initiative to highlight the importance of using the bays properly, making it fairer and easier for everyone to find a space.”
Special needs parent, Dawn Cameron comments ‘”I’m delighted to hear that Tesco is introducing these fines and cracking down on the misuse of disabled parking bays.
The perception amongst the general public is that disabled parking bays are readily available but 9 times out of 10 I am unable to find a disabled bay free and more often than not the cars parked in them are not displaying a blue badge.”
Laura McGlinn, past Firefly Community Co-ordinator also said, “Firefly Community members and our Special Needs Bloggers are regularly telling us about the difficulties they face on days out and finding appropriate parking is a major challenge.
A challenge they have to face simply because the public are misusing the spaces that are widely available in most car parks.
Hopefully this new initiative by Tesco will encourage people to think twice before parking in a disabled parking bay.”