'Technical error' at Lidl leads to car park fines being issued to dozens of Downpatrick customers

Lidl has put the issue down to a 'technical error' involving an automatic number plate recognition camera. A spokesperson said parking times were incorrectly recorded.

Supermarket chain Lidl has apologised after some customers at its Downpatrick store were mistakenly sent parking fines stating that their vehicle had been left in the car park for more than 24 hours.

Many people took to social media to say that they had in fact only shopped in the store for a few minutes, not for a number of days which the parking notice had claimed.

The company has put the issue down to a 'technical error' involving an automatic number plate recognition camera. A spokesperson said parking times were incorrectly recorded.

This, the company said, was due to a vehicle hitting the camera which then was not correctly positioned to record vehicles exiting the site.

Parking at the site on Market Street is run by a third-party company, Park Maven.

Some people affected said that they had been threatened with court action as well as fines totalling up to £160.

Lidl said any fines incurred will now be cancelled.

In a statement to UTV, a Lidl spokesperson said: "Regrettably, some vehicle owners were issued with parking notices.

"We are urgently working to ensure that this technical error is resolved quickly.

"We confirm that any fines incurred during this period will of course be cancelled.

"Lidl Northern Ireland introduced the... system at our Downpatrick store in November 2022 so that we can always accommodate our local customers with ample free parking to meet their needs and to ensure we can maintain a regular free flow of movement to allow more shoppers to enjoy priority parking at our store.

"Ensuring that every one of our customers has a positive shopping experience is of the utmost importance to us and we appreciate everyone’s patience while this technical error is being resolved."

SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said: “The issuing of these tickets is entirely unjustified. Given the scale of this revelation, I welcome that Lidl have agreed to rescind all of these parking tickets.

"They must now charge the third company, Park Maven, with investigating the practice of issuing these tickets, determine where the error took place, and ensure that this is not repeated."

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