Shopper pops into Lidl, car gets clamped

A NEWBRIDGE man has spoken out after his wife was clamped just minutes after making a purchase at her local Lidl supermarket, warning other shoppers to be aware of strict parking enforcement rules.

Paul Nolan, who lives in Newbridge, said his wife Trisha was clamped in the car park of Lidl in Newbridge despite being a regular customer and having just completed her shopping.

According to Paul, the incident happened after his wife visited the store, made her purchase and returned to her car with her groceries. 

Because there are no public toilet facilities at the shop, she then walked to the nearby Whitewater Shopping Centre to use the bathroom. When she returned a short time later, she discovered her car had been clamped.

“She had literally just completed her shopping and put the groceries into the back seat,” Paul said. “There was only a six-minute gap between the time on the receipt and the time the car was clamped. Whoever clamped her would have seen her come out with the shopping and load the car.” 

Both receipts viewed by the Kildare Nationalist show that the woman had made her purchase at 2.15pm and had been clamped at 2.21pm – just six minutes after paying for her groceries.

He said the couple shop at the store every week and spend several hundred euro there each month.

Paul said: “It would be one thing if someone left their car there all day and went elsewhere without buying anything, but she was a genuine customer and was gone only a few minutes because there are no toilet facilities on site.” 

Paul said his wife, who he described as “very quiet and gentle,” was extremely upset by the incident. The clamp release fee was €120, which the couple paid.

When they raised the issue in-store, they were told parking enforcement is handled by a third-party operator and that staff could not intervene, though they could submit an appeal. 

Paul later contacted Lidl head office but said he felt the response did not address his concerns.

“The people in the shop they said, look, you can appeal the thing, but there’s nothing we can do. 

“It's Lidl's property so someone's profiting from this and I can't imagine, knowing Lidl, that it's not Lidl,” said Paul. 

“It's like Ryanair just catching people whose bags are a little bit too big. It's just another revenue stream for Lidl from where I'm sitting.” 

The Kildare Nationalist has contacted Lidl for comment regarding parking enforcement at the Newbridge store and it confirmed.

“Our car park is managed by third-party company CPMS to ensure it is used appropriately, remains a safe space for our customers and to ensure that all customers can avail of our parking facilities. 

“Clear signage is in place throughout our car parks to advise of the policy and active clamping.” 

Lidl continued: “Typically, customers are permitted to only shop within the Lidl store when using our parking facilities and can remain for up to two hours.” 

Lidl has also claimed that it has worked with the company CPMS to resolve the couple’s issue.

Paul said he did not expect to be reimbursed but wanted to highlight the situation publicly to alert other shoppers.

“I kind of feel a sense of obligation to let people know that even the most minor infringement, and you're going to get done at that car park.”