Tesco has defended itself against accusations that it has been “violating the human rights” of disabled shoppers.

This follows a complaint that a car advertising a local Suzuki dealership had been allowed to park in a disabled parking bay.

Graeme Leith from South Pool said: “This behaviour shows their contempt for the disabled and refutes their respective companies’ stated aims and values.

“Why do they think they are entitled to do this? And why do they think they and their business are more important than a disabled person?”

“Both parties have lost me as a customer,” Mr Leith added.

But this week Tesco have insisted that they remain committed to disabled parking bays, saying the space is “out of service due to a raised concrete paving slab.”

A spokesperson for Tesco said: “Many of our customers rely on our disabled parking bays and so we ask that all times, people respect them so that they are available to those who need really them.

“One of our disabled car parking spaces is currently out of service due to a raised concrete paving slab. As a temporary measure while it is being repaired we have allowed a car to park there in exchange for a donation to our charity partners Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation.

“We expect the space to be fixed in the next couple of days and be back available for use by disabled customers,” the spokesperson added.