A PARKING row has broken out between supermarket giant £-Stretcher and their new landlords, just days after the store opened its doors in Leyland.

Store bosses say they will fight landlords Eric Wright & Son after the building firm put up notices in their Churchill Way car park, issuing a one-hour parking restriction and threat of clamping.

£-Stretcher, and neighbouring Lidl, had not been consulted about the parking notices and have been locked in discussions for three weeks, trying to get them removed.

In the meantime, genuine £-Stretcher customers whose cars are clamped will be refunded by the store.

Martin Stringfellow, £-Stretcher divisional manager, said: "We cannot understand why these restrictions have been imposed.

"Apart from the first few days after we opened, when the car park was very busy, there have been no problems and especially not over long term parking.

"The other car parks in Leyland are free and without restriction, including those adjacent to the site in Chapel Brow, and the other side of Churchill Way.

"Fortunately, no-one has been clamped yet, but £-Stretcher feels very strongly about this, in particular the strong wording on the notices.

"We are claiming for loss of trade due to customers being wary of parking or staying too long, and we will continue to fight for the removal of the signs.

"In the meantime, should any genuine £-Stretcher customer be clamped, we will reimburse them."

But a spokesman for Eric Wright Construction Ltd, based in Preston, said: "We sent a letter to the tenants on on March 31, informing them of plans to install the signs - which were requested by one of the four occupiers on the site.

"We asked for their opinins and no-one wrote to us until the signs were put up on May 3.

"It is highly unlikely that someone will be clamped and we are now discussing £-Stretcher's request to have the signs removed."

£-Stretcher manager Carmel Marskell is pictured with one of the controversial signs.

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