FURIOUS father, Ambrogio Russello, is refusing to pay a fine slapped on him for parking in a disabled bay at Tesco's Kidderminster store at Weavers Wharf.

The 31-year-old claimed he was forced to park there because the parent and child bays were full, with at least two of the vehicles obviously not being used to transport young children.

The father-of-four, from Kidderminster, said two of the vehicles were vans, with no rear seats and no child seats, but they had not been fined for parking in the wrong place.

"It seems there's one law for disabled parking and another for parent and child parking," said Mr Russello, who parked in the disabled bay so he had more room to help his three youngest children, aged 18 months, three and six, from the car.

Tesco has threatened him with debt collectors if he fails to settle the £70 fine but Mr Russello, a plasterer, of Beauchamp Avenue, is adamant that he will not pay up.

A Tesco spokesman said a new system was being trialled to tackle the misuse of bays by a minority of people.

"There is clear signage alerting customers of the new approach and that charges are now in operation so there should be no surprises," he said.

"Occasionally, misusers of parent and child bays aren't charged, simply because it is not possible to monitor each and every vehicle but, in the main, we feel the new approach is fair and is helping to create a simpler shopping trip for all customers."

Mr Russello said he had not seen any signs stating the fines would be issued for parking in restricted bays but was told by staff at the store that the fine would not be quashed.

A Tesco security guard also told him he could get a parent and child permit from the customer services point, which he did, but was not asked for any proof that he had children under five.

"Anyone could get the permit and you give your own expiry date, which is when your child is five years old, but the store didn't make any checks," he said.

"People are still parking in the parent and child bays who shouldn't and getting away with it. I don't think it's fair."

The Tesco spokesman added that fining people was a "last resort," adding: "If he hasn't done so already, we'd urge the customer to discuss the issue with customer services, who will do their best to resolve the issue for him, as we just want to be as fair as we possibly can to all our customers."