Asda fines slash bay abuse

After years of campaigning by Disability Now and other members of the Baywatch campaign, one major supermarket has started to fine bay abusers – and the results are startling, reports John Pring

Startling results from a new survey carried out by Disability Now seem to prove that fining abusers almost eradicates the misuse of accessible spaces in supermarket carparks.

Asda announced in January that it was introducing fines of £60 for vehicles parked in accessible bays without displaying blue badges.

Three months on, our small survey suggests that fining dramatically cuts abuse.

Disability Now’s previous major Baywatch survey, carried out with Mobilise and the British Polio Fellowship last summer, found that Asda was one of the worst supermarkets for parking-bay abuse, with over 23 per cent of its accessible bays occupied by cars without a blue badge.

But our survey last month of three Asda carparks in London, all of which fine abusers, found that bay misuse had plummeted to just three per cent.

In the Colindale store, one out of ten bays contained a vehicle without a blue badge; in Southgate, one of 30 spaces was being abused; and in Charlton, there were no offenders at all.

Helen Smith, director of policy and campaigns for Mobilise, said: “This is something we have been fighting for over the last seven years and we were always convinced that fining was the only way.

“We were really pleased that Asda took the leap and it has worked, just as we always thought it would. Let’s hope the others take heed and follow Asda’s lead.”

Last month, Mobilise awarded Asda its annual Redex trophy for services to disabled people, because of its decision to introduce fining across the country.

Asda spokeswoman Rebecca Liburd said: “We are surprised and we are very happy that we have taken the initiative to do it. We encourage other supermarkets to do the same thing we have.”

She said a pilot project in Liverpool found that the availability of accessible spaces rose by 60 per cent after fining was introduced.

The fines act as a deterrent, she said, with only about one fine per store per week.

Asda-owned carparks fine abusers of accessible bays and mother and baby spaces £60 and split the proceeds between Motability and a children’s charity.

Sylvia Noble, from Edmonton, who uses the Southgate store (where abusers are fined £40), said she was in favour of fining. When she uses a Tesco store, “nine times out of ten there is someone parked next to us without a blue badge”.

But a Tesco spokesman said they “favour the carrot, not the stick”. “We don’t believe introducing fines is the right solution for us as it can pose other challenges and we know from experience there can be occasional mitigating circumstances.”