Mother fined £70 because she stayed in Asda car park after doing her shopping to breastfeed baby daughter

A new mum was slapped with a £70 parking fine in an Asda car park because she was breastfeeding her baby.

Rosie Hayes, 34, was shocked to receive the charge after spending more than £150 on food, petrol, homewares and baby items.

After struggling to find anywhere to breastfeed daughter Ella, two months, she resorted to doing so in the passenger seat of her car.

This meant she overstayed the car park’s three hour limit by 26 minutes – but after appealing the fine and explaining the situation, she was still told to pay up.

Rosie, a website designer turned stay-at-home mum from Brighton, said: “I wasn’t annoyed when I first got the ticket, but I assumed once I explained the situation and appealed they would cancel the fine.

“Anyone who looked at the CCTV could have seen what I was doing – but the parking company responded saying I still had to pay.

“As a new mum you are sleep-deprived and are just trying to look after your baby.

“Breastfeeding mothers are given a really hard time and I would have thought a big organisation like Asda would have been more understanding.”

Rosie visited the Brighton Marina supermarket with Ella – her first child, who at the time was five weeks old – on August 17.

After finishing her shopping she needed to feed Ella and after struggling to find anywhere to do so she returned to her car and breastfed her in the passenger seat.

But this meant she overstayed the car park’s maximum stay, and was slapped with a fine by Smart Parking, the firm which manages the car park.

“When you have a young child, everything can take a long time which was why it took me so long to get the shopping sorted,” Rosie said.

“By the time I got everything done Ella was hungry again and it would have taken at least 30 or 45 minutes to get home and get the shopping in so I knew I needed to start feeding her.

“Newborn babies take quite a long time to feed, so once I started feeding her I could hardly stop.

“Only 20 per cent of mothers in Brighton breastfeed and I can see why, because it is difficult. It would be good to have had the support of Asda.”

A spokesman for Smart Parking said: "The car park at the marina is very busy, so is only available for Asda customers who receive 3 hours of free parking.

" At the car park there are 24 signs that clearly highlight its terms and conditions of use."

"In the case of Ms Hayes she overstayed the free parking period, so correctly received a charge.

" However, as an act of goodwill we have now decided to cancel her charge.”

A spokesman for Asda said: "We're sorry for any upset caused and the charge has been cancelled."