Customers of Lidl supermarket in Edgware are having their cars clamped if they leave the car park before commencing their shopping - and then charged £120 for the privilege.

Clampers working for the supermarket in High Street have been pouncing on cars the moment the driver leaves the car park - even if they are just nipping over the road to get cash to pay for their shopping.

Up to eight Lidl customers were clamped yesterday afternoon and forced to pay £120 to get their cars back.

Vicente Polo, of Broadfields Avenue, Edgware, left the car park for a few minutes to get money from a nearby bank. He said: "I went to get cash to shop in Lidl and as I was walking into the shop I saw that they were clamping me, I can't believe it. There are so many people here that have just been clamped too, it's disgusting."

Fellow customer Jennifer Adekanmi said: "I went to get cash and they saw me leave - they must have seen me - and they clamped me straight away. I will never be shopping here again."

Customer Jennifer Kay, 23, parked her car there on Saturday and went across the road to get a bottle of water before beginning her shopping. Miss Kay, who is nine months pregnant, said: "I needed a cold drink before I began my shopping and I didn't want to queue up just for one drink so popped to the newsagent to get a bottle. They clamped me straight away, they had been watching from their car, and even though I was crying and told them I was a customer, they just said it wasn't their problem."

She was charged a £120 fee to release her car by parking enforcement company Olympia, who have been operating from the car park in High Street for the past month.

A spokeswoman for Lidl said yesterday morning: "Customer service is our main objective and we are currently reviewing our policy with Olympia. There will now be attendants in the car park who will warn people about the policy ahead of possible clamping."