A GRIEVING pensioner was given a £70 fine at Tesco car park in Middlewich after spending just minutes in store buying flowers for a funeral.

Ruth Hughes, of Tewkesbury Close, visited the Southway supermarket last Tuesday morning before attending the funeral of a close friend who lived near Chester.

The 65-year-old says she spent just 10 minutes in the store and left at 9.30am only to find a penalty notice from 9.27am slapped on the windscreen.

Ruth’s husband, John said: “It was a really stressful day and to put that on top of it was really upsetting. It’s caused an awful lot of distress.”

Tesco in Middlewich introduced parking restrictions in May but shoppers can park free at the supermarket for up to three hours.

However because Ruth was parked slightly over the lines of a motorcycle bay she was issued a penalty without warning.

The couple, who have three daughters and six grandchildren, say they are now demanding answers.

John, 70, added: “We were ready to go to the funeral. We had an early breakfast and got our black clothes on and my wife just popped out to get the flowers and newspaper for me.

“It really upset her. She was virtually in tears and that set me off. You can imagine how she felt.

“I went down and had a word with them and told them it was dreadful way to treat pensioners.

“They were quite understanding but told me to write to head office.”

Ruth, a retired health worker, and John, who used to work for St Luke’s Hospice, sent off an appeal form on Thursday asking for the fine to be rescinded.

A spokesman for Tesco said: “The car park is managed on our behalf by Central Ticketing.

“They have issued a ticket due to the customer partially parking in a motorcycle bay.

“We do have an appeals process and the customer has been advised how best to go about appealing their parking ticket."