Children in petrol stations

[Twickerhun]

At our local petrol station the staff serving told another customer that children under 16 must stay in the car and not go on the forecourt or to the shop for health and safety reasons. I always thought it was customers choice of you let your kids out of the car? For what it’s worth I would leave the baby in the car when I fill up but if I’m there with teenage children I let the teenagers out of they want to go to the shop. I think it should be parental choice and AIBU to think this rule is too much?

@nowaypose . Stupid response from you. You are right. It’s not rocket science, but clearly it’s hard for you to understand that even if the child locks are on (locks are only fitted on the rear two doors) she could climb through to the front and press the unlock buttons on the side of each front door and open it and get out....Regardless of whether i have locked the doors and taken the keys with me. Judgmental aren’t you.

But it's not likely is it? Ive never heard of a car spontaneously combusting with a child in it

If you left a baby in it’s pram in your house for ten minutes while you pop to the postbox nothing would happen either yet you’d be rightly hung drawn and quartered on here if you said you did that. A car is far more dangerous than home.

If I have children in the car I drive a little further and use a 'pay at the pump'. I know that we are lucky to have this facility close by though

My nearest station used to have a pay at pump facility and then it was taken over and they got rid of it to force people to go into the shop (a Spar). It's a bit tedious.

I had never used the next one along because it was at a Tescos and they didn't have a separate till for petrol, so you'd be queuing behind people with a whole basket, but in recent months they've installed pay at pump so I have used it a couple of times now.

Our nearest petrol station doesn't allow children on the forecourt, if children get out of the car while it's on the forecourt the staff get on the tannoy and tell you to put them back in. If you want to take the kids into the shop you have to finish pumping and then pull forwards into one of the parking bays in front of the shop where there is a short pavement to the shop door.

The two sainsburys near me don’t have them.