A COUPLE in their 80s were shocked to get a £40 parking fine at their local supermarket.

Rachel and William Fearn did their weekly shop at Morrisons in Belper and then had lunch in the store's restaurant, which took longer than usual because of a staff shortage.

In any case, they are hardly in a position to rush around the shop. Mr Fearn is 86 and his wife, who is 85, has arthritis in her knee, which means she has to take her time to painfully "hobble" around the store.

With the delay in the restaurant, they couple overstayed a two-hour parking limit by 32 minutes.

They were shocked to get through the post notice of a £40 fine, which threatened to increase to £70 if not paid within a fortnight, and £90 if not settled within a month.

A shaken Mr Fearn sent a letter to the private parking company involved, but received no response.

A former worker at Courtaulds, in Spondon, he said: "We have shopped at Morrisons ever since it opened. I couldn't believe it because we were spending money there the whole time we were inside.

"I was too busy concentrating on driving to see the signs mentioning the two-hour limit and, in any case, an employee at the store told me the limit had only been in place for a month."

The couple's car was in the car park for two hours and 32 minutes.

Mr Fearn said he wrote to Parking Eye, the Chorley-based firm which runs Morrisons car parks, to explain but was ignored.

He said: "I must say, it's a pretty unfair way to treat regular customers."

When the Derby Telegraph contacted Morrisons about the fine, a spokesman said: "We have been in touch with Mr Fearn, and asked him to confirm the details in writing. It is normal for customers to contact us when they have legitimate reasons for overstaying the allocated parking time, and we are happy to review Mr Fearn's parking notice."

A spokesman for Parking Eye claims the company did not received any communication from Mr and Mrs Fearn.

But he said: "Morrisons are now dealing with the issue."

Mrs Fearn said the incident had left her "very upset".

Mr Fearn wants the supermarket to install pay-and-display machines. "I'd have been happy to pay for three hours, but they use these CCTV cameras instead," he said.

The cameras record when vehicles enter and leave the car park to enforce the two-hour parking limit.

Now, after their regular shop, in which the couple spend up to £60, they no longer stay for a meal in Morrisons' restaurant. Instead, they stop off in Milford for a bite to eat.