Beeston Tesco Extra car park changes described as 'nuisance' by shoppers

Changes to car parking times at a Tesco in a Nottinghamshire town have been described as a "nuisance" by residents. The supermarket giant is introducing new rules for its Tesco Extra store in Beeston this month, severely limiting the amount of time vehicles can be left in the late evening and overnight.

Residents have raised concerns about the impact this will have on the night economy, including The Arc Cinema and pubs and bars. The two-storey car park provides spaces for both supermarket customers and shoppers using the wider town centre.

Tesco said the changes allowed it to "better manage the car parking spaces for our customers" and deter anti-social behaviour. It will reduce parking to one-hour stays between 10pm and midnight, while motorists will be limited to 15 minutes between midnight and 6am.

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The three-hour maximum stay will remain in place between 6am and 10pm from Monday to Friday. The alterations come after Broxtowe Borough Council removed free one-hour parking from two of its car parks in the town.

Councillor Steve Carr, independent councillor for Beeston North, said he believed Tesco was responding to more shoppers using its car park since the council's actions. William Naylor, who was visiting Beeston with his son Rupert, occasionally parks at Tesco and said he could see the changes being "a pain".

“It won’t affect me because we don’t come often and when we do we only come in the daytime," said the 39-year-old who lives in Draycott. "I suppose it’s stopping people from coming and leaving their cars and going into town in the evening.

“We generally come in by tram or bus so it generally wouldn’t have too much of an impact on us. But I can see it being a bit of a pain for people.”

Terry and Peter Myers said they could also see it being a "nuisance". Terry said: “It’s inconvenient. We’re in our 70s so we don’t come out at night so it wouldn’t really make much difference to us.

“I can understand why if there are car meets. But I don’t think Tesco are always thinking of customers anyway.”

Cllr Carr said: "It doesn't surprise me. A lot of people have been parking in the Tesco car park.

"It's really bad news for Beeston. It's not good for business. One of the reasons we attracted Arc and everything that came with it was to boost the nighttime economy.

"[The council] imposing parking charges isn't a way to boost the economy. I'm not sure that was the reason for Tesco's changes but it seems to be a little bit of a coincidence."

He said some residents have told him they will no longer use the Arc cinema as a result. A spokesperson for Tesco said: “We have put in place new parking time limits at our Nottingham Beeston Extra store.

"This will allow us to better manage the car parking spaces for our customers and deter anti-social behaviour in the car park outside of store opening hours.” A Broxtowe Borough Council spokesperson previously said: "The new car parking charges are the first change since 2010.

"The previous charges no longer covered the cost of providing and maintaining the council’s car parks. The new charges will help to address the deficit and allow the council to invest the money to ensure that the facilities provided remain fit for purpose.

"Parking is available for £1 for two hours and there is free all-day parking on Saturday and Sunday at Devonshire Avenue, Beeston."