SHOPPING bosses have said they are "reviewing the signage and markings" at the site of a new store in Colchester after residents have been left frustrated for being fined for parking in restricted areas outside.

Visitors to the Home Bargains store in Colchester say they have been fined after being caught out by parking restrictions, claiming they are "unclear".

The car park, which is owned by Sainsbury’s, is enforced by Euro Car Parks.

The parking spaces have no clear instruction saying not to park there and no information in the bay about what they are for.

Spaces - customers have been parking outside Home Bargains and been getting fined for parking in these spacesSpaces - customers have been parking outside Home Bargains and been getting fined for parking in these spaces (Image: Credited)

This has lead to a number of people having been caught out after parking in spaces which are designated to the ‘drive thru’ at the Lightship Way store.

Anne Taylor and Brigid Bailey have both been fined for parking in the spaces.

Anne said: “Yesterday, me and Brigid were driving round and found two spaces and we were then fined for parking there.

Fined - Anne Taylor is one of the people who has received a fine after parking in one of these spacesFined - Anne Taylor is one of the people who has received a fine after parking in one of these spaces (Image: Brigid Bailey)

“All that the parking ticket says is that my vehicle wasn’t parked within a bay.

“I will absolutely not be revisiting the store after what has happened.”

Tickets - Anne Taylor and Brigid Bailey were both fined at the same time when visiting Home BargainsTickets - Anne Taylor and Brigid Bailey were both fined at the same time when visiting Home Bargains (Image: Brigid Bailey)

Brigid said: “They should have a notice up in the store making people aware - 40 years of driving and I've never experienced anything like this.

“If the parking space was hatched or was clear that we couldn’t park there we wouldn’t have done.”

There are more reports of fines for the same reason on online reviews of the Home Bargains store.

Angry - Brigid Bailey was fined alongside her friend Anne as they visited the new store togetherAngry - Brigid Bailey was fined alongside her friend Anne as they visited the new store together (Image: Brigid Bailey)

The fines which are reduced if paid within 14 days to £50, can take up to 28 days to appeal, meaning if the appeal is rejected the customers is left paying the full amount.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's said: "This part of the car park is a traffic aisle to allow passage between the parking bays.

"It is marked with clear 'give way' triangles and junction markings – we are reviewing the signage and markings at the site to understand if we can make it even clearer that these are not parking spaces.”