Tesco cracking down on parent and child parking space cheats with £100 fines
Tue, 16 Jun 2026
With the summer holidays around the corner, new research has found that UK motorists are strongly in favour of fines for drivers who misuse parent and child parking spaces.
Research carried out by Tiger.co.uk found that 51% of the 1000 motorists they asked support penalties being issued to drivers who wrongly use the designated bays.
A place for safe space
Parent and child parking bays feature extra space along each side of the car to allow enough room for a car's doors to be opened and a child to be wrestled into a bulky car seat in safety.
The survey found that almost two thirds (63%) said they had seen a driver without a child using the spaces, while only 18% of respondents said they would feel comfortable confronting someone over their misuse of a parent and child bay.
In addition to causing significant irritation, drivers who don't respect the designated spaces force parents to use regular bays.
Car insurance experts have warned this can lead to unintended damage caused to vehicles as parents attempt to remove children and their associated kit with reduced room to manoeuvre.
Analysis of insurance claims from last year showed that up to 20% involved some kind of carpark altercation.
Who can park in a parent and child space?
Tesco has begun more proactive monitoring of its carparks, employing warning signs and enforcement officer teams to impose parking fines of up to £100.
However, unlike disabled parking bays, there is currently no national law governing the use of parent and child spaces, as they are usually located on private land.
That means the rules are set by the owner or operator of the carpark, which means inconsistency is common. For example, some say anyone travelling with a child aged up to 12 can use the spaces, while some say just babies and toddlers.
Some carparks, including Tesco as above, allow heavily pregnant women to use the spaces, while others don't, making a check of the signs worth if you're unsure of the particular rules in operation.
As for calls for government intervention, there is currently a petition which has attracted almost 6500 signatures to introduce a permit-style system similar to the Blue Badge scheme for disabled parking.
"Parent and child parking spaces exist to help families get young children in and out of vehicles safely," says
Ian Wilson, car insurance expert and Managing Director at Tiger.co.uk
"When other drivers misuse these spaces, it not only inconveniences parents who genuinely need them by forcing them into narrower bays, it can also lead to unintentional and unnecessary damage to vehicles.
Parents could damage their own vehicles trying to remove a car seat, or accidentally scratch or dent a neighbouring car, leading to costly repairs."
