A customer given a parking fine after she and her husband visited a Tesco store hours apart has vowed to never visit the shop again.

Emily Smith, from East Langdon in Dover, says she did nothing wrong but was treated like a "criminal" by the supermarket giant.

The 47-year-old says her partner went to Tesco Extra in Whitfield to grab some groceries on the morning of March 20, and she drove back there in the same car that evening for petrol.

But Horizon, the firm which monitors the car park, sent her a fine in the post, claiming the vehicle was left there for more than 10 hours - breaching the three-hour limit.

Mrs Smith says the automatic number plate recognition cameras at the site must have failed to pick up on her husband driving away in the morning.

She fears other shoppers could face similar fines and may be frightened into paying the £35 charge - which doubles after 28 days if not settled.

The charity manager told KentOnline it is "hideous" she was left having to gather evidence to prove where she was on that day.

"We are being treated like criminals," she said, speaking before KentOnline raised the issue with Tesco.

"There is no innocent until proven guilty.

"We have now found some proof because we use a tracking app with my eldest - so I can now show I was in Walmer. But we cannot send another appeal.

"It is bonkers, and trying to prove where we were is quite hard."

Mrs Smith says she searched on Google and found "a lot of other people" have been fined in similar circumstances.

"I am deeply disappointed in Tesco..."

In one example, a senior nurse practitioner told her local newspaper how she went to a Tesco store in Warrington before and after work - but received a fine claiming she had been parked there for nine hours.

KentOnline also previously reported how a man from Dartford had received a parking charge claiming he had stayed in a car park for 23 hours. But he says he visited for less than an hour on two consecutive days.

"I am just really worried that this is going to happen to other people - and some people may just pay it because it is quite frightening," she said.

Mrs Smith says she was "deeply disappointed" at how Tesco handled the situation, before the fine was overturned following KentOnline's intervention.

She said: "My husband was told when he rang them 'our cameras do not lie'. We were basically accused of lying.

"We are ending up having to give up our time and energy to try and get this resolved when we did not do anything wrong.

"I am deeply disappointed in Tesco. I was their customer but I am not going to risk being their customer again.

"They show no care, no concern and absolutely no interest.

"All we did was give Tesco our custom twice, and I would really warn anyone not to make that mistake.

"I think it is a money-making tool for Tesco and their parking company - because if you are told you are going to be fined less if you pay it within 28 days, then people will just pay it because they do not want the hassle."

Mr and Mrs Smith had been told they faced further enforcement action if they did not cough up.

"We are going to have to pay if they threaten us with court because they have the power to put bad credit against our name," she said before the fine was cancelled.

"They have the power to do that with no chance for us to argue it."

"We are in the position of having to prove we were not somewhere..."

Mrs Smith, who is also a carer for two children with special needs, added: "I will now be shopping at Lidl.

"People need to know they have the choice to shop somewhere that will not fine them if they visit more than once a day.

"Given it is a known issue, it is negligence on Tesco's part to not look into it. It is hideous."

• Know your rights! What to do if you're given a parking fine

KentOnline contacted Tesco to ask for a response to Mrs Smith's concerns.

A spokesperson responded: "We are sorry to hear about this and we have ensured the charge is cancelled.”