A MOTORIST who parked her car in a York supermarket disabled bay was stunned when she returned to find a note saying: "Being fat and ugly doesn't count as disabled (park elsewhere)."

Sarah Metcalfe, who says she suffers from the painful condition fibromyalgia and also ME, has urged the person who posted the 'hurtful' comment in the Tesco Extra car park at Clifton Moor last Thursday evening not to judge people by their appearances.

The 35-year-old, of Holgate, said: "I know I may not look ill, in fact I choose to laugh rather than cry, but I do suffer from a long term condition that causes pain and fatigue all over my body."

She said her symptoms included pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness and clumsiness and feeling too hot and too cold, and she needed to park in the bay near the store to ensure she could complete her shopping.

She said that luckily she was open minded and knew appearances could be deceptive but urged the note writer to be kind rather than hateful in future.

And she warned: "I fear one day you may say the same to someone and it could really push them over the edge... Quite frankly, you never know what kind of day a person is having and what the consequences of your actions will be."

She added that she had applied for a blue badge but there was no sign to say one was required in the Tesco car park.

A Tesco spokesman said the company was shocked to hear about the incident and tried hard to tackle discrimination.

"We ask that customers display a blue badge if they are parking in a disabled bay to prevent abuse of these essential spaces, but appreciate our Clifton Moor customer's concerns and would welcome her to talk to our colleagues in store. We will also report this incident to the car park owners."

He added that Tesco did not own the car park and so did not have control over its monitoring.