Tesco could be taken to court over parking

Tesco could be taken to court for failing to enforce parking restrictions at one of its Midlands stores. Walsall Council claims the supermarket is in breach of planning regulations.

Bosses say motorists are able to leave vehicles at the 750-space car park at its town centre store for free.

The authority wants pay and display to be introduced for visitors who are not using the store and set a deadline of November 30 for its installation.

And although free parking has been reduced the council says it has not complied with its agreement.

A notice for failing to comply with planning conditions is now poised to be served on bosses at the £55 million Littleton Street supermarket which could see them brought in front of a court although any fine would be restricted to £1,000.

The store opened in December last year creating around 200 jobs.

But the council has raised concerns that train commuters are leaving vehicles at Tesco.

It has seen drivers snub council-owned sites prompting them to drop prices on under-used car parks and for four-hour stays.

It emerged this autumn that income at one of the council's most well-used car parks on the junction of Stafford Street and Green Lane had slumped by more than a third since Tesco opened.

Regeneration chief councillor Adrian Andrew said: "We are delighted Tesco are in Walsall and have created so many jobs in the town but it is important we deal with the current issues around parking in a constructive manner to the benefit of both Tesco and the town centre generally.

"As part of the legal agreement that allowed Tesco to build the store they agreed to a number of conditions including introducing a car park management system restricting free parking up to a maximum of three hours to their customers only.

"Discussions have been held with Tesco and it was agreed they would install their proposed car parking control system by 30 November."

ATesco spokesman said: "We hope to have a solution in place early in the New Year."