Shopper spends six years parking in all 211 bays at Sainsbury’s to find the best one

Gareth Wild, 39, describes feat as his ‘magnum opus’

Gareth Wild, 39, pictured in his car at the Sainsbury’s in Bromley. (PA)

A shopper has completed a six-year quest to park in all 211 spots of his local Sainsbury’s car park, a challenge he started after noticing his preference for certain spaces.

Gareth Wild, a 39-year-old production director, described the feat at the supermarket in Bromley, south-east London, as his “magnum opus” in a post liked more than 120,000 times on Twitter.

“For the last six years I’ve kept a spreadsheet listing every parking spot I’ve used at the local supermarket in a bid to park in them all. This week I completed my Magnum Opus!” he tweeted.

The parking enthusiast said he was often joined on his missions by his four-year-old daughter, while his wife was “always really supportive” of the concept.

To make his life easier, Mr Wild first worked out that there were 211 spots he could park in on his weekly shop, as he does not own a motorbike and is not a blue badge holder.

He then assigned each section of the car park a category from A to F, before starting a spreadsheet to tick off each space where he had managed to park.

Speaking to the PA news agency, the production director compared his challenge to collecting Panini stickers.

Gareth Wild’s graphic of his local Sainsbury’s car park. (PA)

“There’s only so many parking spaces, why not try and get them all? “It’s a collector’s thing I suppose,” he said.

The Bromley resident had a “moment of elation” when he parked in the 211th and final space on 24 April, describing F20 as “a pig to get in”.

As guidance for others who are “keen on taking a pilgrimage to the Bromley Sainsbury’s car park”, he published a diagram on Twitter showing the best - described as “god-tier” - and worst spots to park.

On social media, Mr Wild revealed he was considering a similar project at a nearby Lidl.

Additional reporting by PA