Shoppers have won their campaign to persuade a top supermarket to change its parking fees.
Bosses at the Morrison supermarket in Keighley have had a change of heart only about a month after parking charges at the store were increased.
They introduced the new revised charges in a bid to clamp down on motorists who misused the system. They said motorists had been using the car park for long-stay parking to the detriment of customers who wanted to use the spaces for shopping.
But the changes sparked criticism, especially from eld-erly and disabled people who felt they were being penalised. They claimed the £20 or more which had to be spent before customers got an hour's free parking was excessive. Prev-iously, customers had an hour's free parking for spending only £10 or more.
John Mason, 62, of Oak-worth, who criticised the inc-reases is pleased with the supermarket's change of heart. "It's a lot better," he says. "It means you can spend between £15 and £18 and get an hour free parking."
A Morrison spokesman says the company received a number of complaints about the changes. "They said they were not given long enough time to shop for the amount of money they intended to spend," says the spokesman. "Having carefully considered these views we have taken action."
The company has not reversed the other fee which was increased - that customers must spend over £30 before they get two hours' free parking. Previously they had only to spend £20 to get the free two hours.
The revised fees were introduced on Friday April 30. The concession in which customers spending £5 or more get half-an-hour free parking also remains unchanged.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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