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Tesco is set to fine shoppers up to £70 if they park in disabled or parent bays without permits.

If drivers don't produce a blue badge or are travelling with children under 12 they could be slapped with a £40-70 fine.

Tesco staff will catch the culprits via a smartphone app that they use to take photos.

The new initiative has been trialled at 81 supermarkets and will be coming to a further 200 stores in the near future.

It's not known which stores will be affected by the new scheme.

The evidence is sent to a company called Horizon Parking, which obtains driver details from the DVLA and issues a £40 penalty notice, rising to £70 unless it is paid within 14 days.

Tesco insists it will not make money from the scheme because the fines cover only running costs plus fees to Horizon, which manages 1,325 UK car parks.

A spokesman said: ‘Many disabled customers rely on our disabled parking bays, so we’ve introduced our self-monitoring initiative to highlight the importance of using the bays properly, making it fairer and easier for everyone to find a space.’

Other supermarkets are also thought to be clamping down on car park abuse.

Sainsbury’s issues fines of £60, discounted to £30 for prompt payment, for the misuse of its bays. Asda imposes fines ranging from £40 to £100 while Morrisons does not impose a penalty.

