Tesco shoppers in Weston-super-Mare will have to spend at least £5 in store if they want to park a car for more than 30 minutes.

Weston Mercury: Tesco car park in Weston-super-Mare.Tesco car park in Weston-super-Mare. (Image: Archant)

The Mercury can reveal Tesco bosses are hoping to introduce new parking measures for the Station Road store, which will mean people will be fined £70 if they stay for longer than two hours.

If people want to park for free for two hours, they must spend £5 in store. Anyone parking for less than half an hour will not need to spend £5, but must still validate a parking receipt.

A Tesco spokesman said the new system was ‘designed to protect those growing increasingly frustrated by the misuse of spaces by motorists who aren’t using the store’.

The spokesman said: “The maximum stay is also designed to allow customers time to visit other services.”

Under the proposals, submitted in a planning application to North Somerset Council, a car’s entry time will be recorded when it is driven into the car park.

After shopping, the customer will be given a parking voucher for free parking.

They have to enter their registration number and scan the voucher into a machine before leaving.

People will be fined if they leave without validating their parking.

There will be no way to pay if you want to stay longer than two hours.

* For more on this story, pick up a copy of the Weston Mercury today (Thursday).