Our story about the parking charges at Morrisons in Bolton town centre provoked strong reactions from readers.

Issues at the Black Horse Street supermarket were brought to the fore by Ann Hunt who was fined £50 for failing to pay when she used her blue badge to park in a disabled bay with her 93-year-old mother.

She paid the bill but says the supermarket’s signage was “confusing” and could catch other drivers out. While some of the signs have since been changed to make the system more clear, many of our readers sympathised with Mrs Hunt.

One commenter, going by the screen name Pickles And Cheese, said: “It was never clear in the beginning if people with disabled badges had to pay, so from the offset I paid the £1 to avoid the fine.

“Even the store manager didn’t know the answer when I asked back in October.”

Another, called Realistic Guy, added: “Charging disabled people with blue badges £1 makes life difficult. The whole idea of disabled spaces is to make life easier. Imagine having poor mobility and using Morrisons, you have to walk to the machine pay a £1 and put your reg number in on a tiny keypad, great of you have arthritis in your hands. Then take two tickets, walk back to car put ticket in and then go shopping and claim your £1 back at the till. Is this any way to treat people with disabilities?

“The signs were a joke at Morrisons from the moment they were put up, the parking company put signs up at first for a different organisation. If you want to shop at Morrisons with a blue badge, use Atlas Mill, no parking machines there or shop at Sainsbury’s across the road. Vote with your feet.

“On Monday, the machines had clear plastic over them so they looked like they were out of order, but no signs to say they were. So I paid a £1, yesterday they where covered with black plastic with a sign saying no need to pay.”

Bev Bops offered a more helpful response, saying: “Morrison’s and also most other supermarkets want you to shop and return there again, they are really helpful with this kind of thing I had a ticket for going over the allowed stay, I contacted them and they dismissed the ticket.”

Other readers were less sympathetic, with some saying Mrs Hunt should have made more of an effort to check whether she had to pay.

Commenter M1084 said: “I agree she should have known better. On the other hand, it’s true that road signage especially around town centre car parks, retail areas and urban areas are generally overwhelming and confusing to the average driver. Keep things simple and easy to absorb instead of directing signs every which way to the point of insanity.”