LAZY shoppers who wrongly park in disabled bays at a supermarket's car parks risk a £60 penalty.

Car park attendants will soon be patrolling the disabled parking bays at Asda stores in Accrington, Blackburn, Burnley and Colne in a bid to stop improper use of the spaces.

Those taking up spaces without displaying a disabled badge will be given a £60 civil penalty notice.

Attendants will also monitor parent and child spaces and ask rogue motorists to move.

The move comes after complaints about inconsiderate shoppers parking in bays designated for the elderly, infirm and disabled.

The supermarket has already piloted the scheme at a handful of its other stores and is rolling it out across the country.

The fining system has been welcomed by local disabled support groups.

Brian Simpson, chair of Blackburn And Darwen Disabled Access Group, said: "This is wonderful.

"Disabled people who need to use the bays because they are closer to the store and they would have difficulty using spaces further away.

"Time after time these people find most of the bays have been taken by people who are capable of walking that little bit further.

"Asda has always supported its disabled customers and was the first supermarket in the area to provide buggies.

"I think all other supermarkets and shopping precincts should look at this new scheme and follow suit."

An Asda spokesperson for said the scheme would be introduced from March 10 and would also involve monitoring parent and child spaces.

He added: "Understandably our disabled customers are unhappy when someone who should not be parking in the bays takes up one of the spaces and it is often difficult for them to challenge these other customers.

"Hopefully we will not need to give out the penalty notices because the car park monitors will act as a visible deterrent to those who are too lazy to park in the proper spaces."

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "Failure to pay a fixed penalty notice will lead to a prosecution in a court of law.

"Failure to pay a civil penalty notice could lead to the company taking the driver to the civil courts.

"It would be highly inadvisable to avoid paying a civil penalty notice."