Accessible shopping at retail parks

A retail park has some real advantages for disabled shoppers: wide level car parks, step-free entrances on large modern units, and the chance to park close to the door. It also has drawbacks: long distances outside between shops, few seats, unpredictable weather and the fact that the car park is private land with its own rules. This guide looks at each of the main issues in turn.

Blue Badge bays on private car parks

The Blue Badge scheme gives holders concessions on public roads, such as parking on yellow lines in some circumstances. Those legal concessions do not automatically extend to private car parks, which include almost every retail park. Instead:

• The landowner decides how many accessible bays there are, where they go and who can use them.
• Most retail parks require a valid Blue Badge to be clearly displayed in an accessible bay. Parking there without one is a common reason for a private parking charge.
• Some sites give badge holders a longer maximum stay. Others do not. The entrance sign sets the terms.
• If you are a badge holder and receive a charge because the badge was not visible, for example it slipped off the dashboard, appeal with a photograph of the badge. Operators often cancel charges where the holder can show the badge was valid.

Accessible bays should be wider than standard bays, with hatched space beside them for a wheelchair or for opening doors fully. If the nearest accessible bays are full or badly placed, it is worth telling the shop and the site management: they may not know.

Getting between shops

Retail parks are usually spread out, and walking from one end to the other can be several hundred metres with few places to rest. Some options:

• Move the car between shops if the site layout allows. Check that this will not be counted as leaving and returning under the parking terms.
• Use shop wheelchairs or scooters. Larger stores, especially DIY and home stores, sometimes keep wheelchairs or powered scooters at the entrance for use inside the store.
• Look for Shopmobility. Shopmobility schemes lend or hire manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters, usually for a small fee or donation. Most are in town centres and shopping centres, but some retail parks host one. Schemes often ask you to register on your first visit and may want to see ID, so phone ahead.
• Order ahead. Click and collect, with the item brought to your car, avoids walking around the store. See our click and collect guide.

Toilets, including Changing Places

Retail parks rarely have public toilets of their own. Toilets are usually inside individual shops or cafés. A standard accessible toilet does not meet everyone's needs, and that is where Changing Places toilets come in.

A Changing Places toilet has a height-adjustable changing bench, a ceiling or mobile hoist, a toilet with space on both sides and enough room for the user and up to two carers. In England, building regulations guidance has, since 2021, required Changing Places toilets in certain new large buildings used by the public, which can include larger retail parks and supermarkets. Scotland has a similar requirement for certain new buildings, and the position elsewhere in the UK differs. Existing buildings are not required to retrofit them, so provision varies a lot.

The Changing Places consortium maintains a map of registered facilities. Check it before you travel rather than assuming a large site will have one.

Inside the shops

Large stores usually have wide aisles, but long distances, high shelving and heavy goods bring their own challenges. Under the Equality Act 2010, shops in England, Scotland and Wales must make reasonable adjustments so disabled people are not put at a substantial disadvantage. In Northern Ireland, similar duties come from the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Common adjustments include:

• Staff fetching items from high or low shelves.
• Help carrying goods to the car or loading them.
• A seat while you wait at a service desk.
• Information in an accessible format, such as reading out product details.

Some retailers support schemes such as the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard, which signals that you may need more time or help without having to explain. Others offer quieter shopping hours. These are voluntary, so ask at the customer service desk.

Bulky and heavy items

If lifting is difficult, delivery is often the better choice, even if it costs extra. Large appliance retailers can usually deliver, install and take away the old appliance; see our guide to buying large appliances. For furniture and flat-pack, our guide to getting bulky purchases home covers delivery options and what to check.

A quick planning checklist

• Check the entrance sign for any badge-holder terms on the day.
• Look up which shops have accessible toilets, and check the Changing Places map.
• Phone ahead about wheelchairs, scooters or Shopmobility.
• Choose quieter times: weekday mornings are usually calmer than Saturday afternoons. Our trip planning guide has more ideas.
• Keep your Blue Badge visible and photograph it on the dashboard if you are worried about a charge.

If something is not accessible

If you find a barrier, such as accessible bays permanently taken by delivery vehicles, a broken lift to an upper sales floor, a blocked accessible toilet or a store wheelchair with a flat tyre, tell staff on the day and follow up in writing to the shop's customer services. Specific, dated feedback is more likely to lead to a change than a general complaint. Where the problem is with the car park or shared areas rather than one shop, ask the shop to pass it to the site's management, since the landlord is usually responsible for common areas.

If a shop refuses a reasonable adjustment and you think that is discrimination, the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) gives free advice in England, Scotland and Wales, and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland covers Northern Ireland. Keep notes of what happened, when and who you spoke to.