RESEARCH has revealed one in seven parent and child parking bays are being misused in the West Midlands.

Website Confused.com says seven in ten local drivers have witnessed a parent and child bay being wrongly used by a member of the public, whilst one in ten UK drivers have admitted to using a parent and child bay whilst not having a child under 12 in the car.

The top reasons given for people misusing the spaces were the lack of other spaces being available (31 per cent), that there were plenty of other parent and child spaces available (31 per cent), that it was late with no parents and children around (26 per cent), that the shopper only needed the space for a few minutes (22 per cent), and that they wanted to park near the entrance (19 per cent).

Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com says: “What is clear is if you aren’t travelling with a child you shouldn’t be parking in the dedicated spaces and instead save these for the mums and dads out there who need the space.”