Half the customers quizzed at Westfield Chartwell took advantage of the parent parks and used the parks despite having no children with them.

Motorists are taking advantage of parent parks while out shopping in Hamilton but businesses and local authorities say there's no way to police the use of the car spaces.

Reporters went to Pak 'n Save Clarence Street on Thursday morning, between 11am and 12.30pm and found 16 customers used the six "parent with pram" parks available - yet only two had children with them.

One Pak 'n Save customer, who had three other adults and no children with him, was approached and asked whether he noticed he was parked in a parent with pram park.

He said he didn't notice where he had parked, and followed up with: "My dad fought for the war, he fought for you [expletive], I can park where I like."

READ MORE: Man with a disability angry at people abusing mobility parks

His female passenger said she did notice where they had parked.

"[We] have a car seat, we have a kid but he's not in the car with us. If you actually read up about it, it's for parents with children, they don't have to be in the car," the passenger said.

Pak 'n Save Clarence Street was contacted for comment but the manager was not available.

A staff member said there were 12 mobility parks and 12 parent parks that were policed by the store's security staff.

Hamilton City Council Parking Team leader John Purcell, said the use of public parent parks was a "courtesy and honesty" situation.

"[We] rely on people using those parks to actually be parents and have a genuine need for them," Purcell said.

"Policing those parental parks can only been done as vehicles enter and park in them."

He said the council has four parent parks in the underground Garden Place car park.

"If one of our wardens encountered a motorist using these car parks without good reason (without children in the car), staff would give the motorist a friendly reminder that these parks are for specific motorists who have young children with them."

And at The Base Shopping Centre, between 9am -10am, six customers were spotted using parent parks, all with children accompanying them.

But at Westfield Shopping Centre, Chartwell, seven of the 14 people who used the parent parks, did not have children with them.

Westfield spokesperson Deb McGhie said the shopping centre's parent parks were monitored by staff but because there were no policies as such, it was tough to police.

"You would expect people to have enough respect for one another to not use the parks if they didn't need to," McGhie said.

"You can't really judge by whether they have a car seat in the car, they could have taken the capsule inside with them, so it's a hard one."

Disability permits were displayed on all vehicles parked in mobility parks at all three locations.

And although there are no infringement notices issued for people who abuse parent parks, council said it will fine those who abuse mobility parks.

"On average staff issue 10 infringement notices a week relating to [the] 31 mobility parks in the central business district," Purcell said.

"Those parks are provided for motorists with specific needs, and there's an inherent expectation other motorists will respect that.

"Those parks are there for a reason."

The issue of people abusing mobility parks has been controversial, with Hamilton man Terry Faleva'ai lashing out at those using the parks without permits.

But a Hamilton supermarket manager, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said more often than not, customers with mobility permits would sit in vehicles while their drivers or family members would run in to the shop for them.

"It's actually a tricky situation because you don't want to seem like you're discriminating against them, that's not it," the manager said.

"But what can we actually do and what can we say to them? I actually see it at my supermarket quite a bit and so do my staff but doesn't it defeat the purpose of having a permit there?

"Those parks could be used for other customers with a disability, who need to get out an go shopping. They should be freed up if the intent is not for [the person with the disability] to go shopping."

CCS Disability Action Manager of Quality, Innovation and Development, Joy Gunn, said privately-owned businesses can choose whether or not to offer mobility parking and it was also up to the businesses to police the parks.