A disgruntled shopper has accused a supermarket chain of alienating its customers after being slapped with a fine for staying in the shop too long.

Ed Mueller had spent more than £100 at Waitrose in High Wycombe on April 21 with his wife and children – but they were punished for staying at the Handy Cross Hub supermarket for longer than two hours and slapped with a £40 fine.

The solicitor explained he had spent longer than expected at the store because his wife needed to bring him the bank card he had forgotten, and had been taking advantage of the store’s café while waiting.

The family also enjoyed lunch at the café, but were then left stunned when they found they had been sent a parking charge notice demanding £40 – with threat of legal action if they did not pay up – by Britannia Parking.

Mr Mueller said questioned if the company was trying to “commit commercial suicide by treating loyal high-spending customers” this way.

He said: “I am really interested in the strategy of trying to relax customers by offering a café, and also free tea and coffee and window seats in addition to the seating in the café, and then fining them for lingering. Has Waitrose gone mad?

“I am livid that they have done this. Why would they treat their customers like this? I understand that they don’t want people to abuse the car park but this is outrageous. They seem to be trying to attract customers to linger in the café and then punishing them for it.”

The £150 million Waitrose supermarket – which opened in March 2016 and is one of the largest in the country – also has a sushi bar as well as a café.

A Waitrose spokesman has confirmed that they have decided to cancel Mr Mueller’s fine, but said their two-hour free parking policy was in place so that customers can spend enough time in the shop while preventing drivers who do not plan to use the shop from abusing the car park.

They said: “While we have cancelled the fine on this occasion, we believe the two hours free parking we provide for using our car park offers customers plenty of time to shop with us while ensuring it is not open to abuse from those seeking to avoid using the neighbouring leisure centre pay and display car park."