SUPERMARKETS in Darlington have come under fire from an action group for people with disabilities.

Darlington Association on Disability has threatened to take legal action if store bosses fail to stop shoppers using disabled parking bays.

Members of the action group have spoken out after receiving complaints from disabled shoppers, who claim able-bodied people are using their bays.

The group also claims that store managers are ignoring their complaints, and are failing to ensure the bays are not used by able-bodied shoppers.

Gordon Pybus, chairman of the Access Interest Group of Darlington Association on Disability, said the problem was getting worse at supermarkets in the town.

He said: "Our volunteers have checked at supermarkets in the town, and have highlighted a major problem with rogue shoppers using the bays.

"On one occasion, Morrison's, in Morton Park, had nine accessible bays being abused, and Asda, at Whinbush, had seven being used up by people without an orange badge.

"This is an outrageous situation and the store managers don't seem to sympathise very much. They just seem to ignore our complaints.

"If it comes to it, some disabled people could claim compensation for being discriminated against under the Disability Discrimination Act, so the supermarkets have to pull their socks up and address the problem."

However, supermarket bosses yesterday denied they were ignoring the problem, and vowed to make more effort to ensure that spaces were not used by able-bodied shoppers.

Seane Wilkinson, manager of Asda, said the company had highlighted their disabled parking bays and had stepped up the policing of them.

He said: "We have 20 disabled bays at the store, which is far more than the recommended amount, and we have also repainted them to make it clearer to customers.

"We are committed to ensuring the best service for all our customers, and we would be delighted if Mr Pybus and members of the Darlington Association on Disability wanted to see for themselves the new bays."

A spokeswoman for Morrison's said: "Our disabled parking spaces are checked regularly, but there are occasions when they are misused, but we endeavour to ensure they are only used by disabled customers.