ANYONE, like me, who uses Tesco on a regular basis will know that finding a parking space close to the store is the most taxing issue of the whole shopping experience.

That's not the case for Stewart Wood, who's less bothered about finding a space and more concerned about cutting time off his commuter journey by cutting though Tesco's Branksome store.

Tesco, of course, has every right to dissuade Mr Wood and indeed any drivers from this practice as they own the land and have every right to ensure that the people using the car park are customers.

Let's face it, if you owned a company and had to watch every day as motorists used your premises as a short cut, you'd probably take similar action.

I'm sure you wouldn't think the action being taken was petty then.

Quite whether Mr Wood is any more of a health and safety risk than motorists using the store may be a moot point, but he's happy to risk a fine on principle so it remains to be seen who wins that battle.

What interests me more is the situation over at its larger sister store at Tower Park where, rather sadly for those of us who drove around for 10 minutes last Sunday trying to find a space, Tesco do not own the land.

Their car parking areas are leased from Tower Park, which made it irritating that at least 50 per cent of the cars appeared to be using Tesco's car park to access other areas of the complex.

And while Highview Parking are keeping an eye out for Mr Wood at Branksome, may I respectfully suggest they also watch out for the many people who illegally' use the disabled and parent and child spaces?