Working alongside BCSC, the BPA, which manages the scheme on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers, wants to help ensure the safety of shoppers parking in shopping centre car parks.

Currently around 250 shopping centres in the UK have achieved Park Mark status and head of the Safer Parking Scheme for the BPA Kelvin Reynolds says it is easy to get involved. In particular Reynolds is keen to promote the message that large investment is not required in order to achieve Park Mark status.

He says: "Since we have moved into the risk assessment world it is much easier. The original Secured by Design scheme was about security and it was design-led - you had to have all these things in place whether you needed them or not. There was this idea that you must have a CCTV system but do you need it? No, you need adequate surveillancing. So we have now moved into risk assessment.

"That has opened it up and operators that wouldn't consider it before, now realise they don't have to put in all this kit but just have to prove it is safer."

Simply, all a centre needs to do is prove that it has put in a host of measures to make the car park safer than the one up the road, such as better lighting, car park attendants and clear lines of vision. But what are the benefits?

The Light in Leeds recognises the important endorsement that a Park Mark award gives to its car park as it confirms to customers the level of emphasis placed on safety and security.

Trevor Bickers, car park manager at The Light, says: "The Park Mark brand is recognised across the industry as a stamp of quality and high standards for those car parks that have achieved it. Safety is a key consideration of customer service at The Light and having Park Mark status highlights all the things that the centre is doing right in providing a safe environment for all users and their vehicles, which is a big benefit for customers when choosing where to park in Leeds city centre."

The Mall Edgware achieved the award this summer after undergoing an assessment on various areas including lighting, signage, recorded crime levels and management practices. And the centre says the perceived safety of customers using the car park has improved as a result.

The 800-space car park at Fremlin Walk in Maidstone, operated by Meteor, has also been awarded Park Mark status.

Dave Garwood, operations director at Meteor says: "It is important for Meteor to be part of this nationwide, government-backed scheme which strives to reduce crime and improve public services, and we are committed to supporting and promoting the Park Mark scheme for the benefit of our clients and customers."

So what does the BPA need to do now? Firstly, it needs to raise consumer awareness - something that has already been done with reasonable success in the north-west. Through regional press advertisements, radio and newspaper coverage as well as getting Coronation Street actress Samia Smith involved in the campaign, awareness built around the idea of Park Mark and what it means. Awareness increased from 2 to 12 per cent - which was deemed to be OK after just a month's campaigning.

However, the main source of understanding by the public came from Park Mark promotional signs posted in the car parks, next to payment machines and in lifts.

Moving forward the BPA is to circulate starter packs to members of the BPA Shopping Centre and Retail Special Interest Group so that a full discussion on the marketing of the scheme to shopping centres can take place at the next meeting in October.

Reynolds says: "The shopping centre industry is quite well engaged with the scheme but the BPA wants to engage with them more. Having spent years at Bluewater I understand that the car park is important but is not the be all and end all.

There is more the owners and operators are interested in than their car parks and those things loom large in the proftability, operation and development of retail, but car parking is an increasingly important part of retail because without it many wouldn't survive. Really what we are trying to say is how can the BPA, which is 100 per cent focused on parking, assist the shopping centre world in its parking?"

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