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Father says he was ‘cheated’ after being fined while visiting McDonald’s with his family.
Marcus Ward parked near the Walsgrave restaurant branch in Coventry.
The 35-year-old and his wife took their two young children for lunch and an afternoon at McDonald’s soft play.
However, a few days later a parking ticket showed up through their front door.
Marcus said a charge from UK Parking Control found his wife and children had exceeded the 90-minute limit in the customer car park by around 10 minutes.
He claimed that the lack of signage meant the family was unaware of the rules.
The angry dad told CoventryLive: “You’ve got a little game at this McDonald’s so you’ll be there a lot longer than a normal McDonald’s.
“If you analyze how long it takes a parent to get the kids out of the car, change them, feed them and play freely, it’s definitely over an hour and a half.”
“That’s a hell of a lot of money for using a facility that has parking.
“I’ve lived in Coventry all my life and never knew parking had a time limit.
“Everything is almost ready to fail and fall into this trap. It’s unbelievable.’
Marcus has been battling a parking ticket since last August.
He has now been told he will have to fight the parking charge in court, with the fine reaching £170.
He said: “It annoys me because it’s fair and it’s not fair. This is absolutely shocking. Basically, it’s like being robbed, but somehow legally.
“If my wife had parked there, gone to another store and come back, I would have paid the fine, but since I am so adamantly against paying it morally, I am on the heels and sticking to my principles.
Marcus wants to warn others about the time limit at a popular restaurant so people don’t get “trapped”.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Many of our restaurants have parking restrictions in place, with a time limit, to ensure adequate parking is available to all our customers.
“Extensive signage regarding these restrictions is clearly visible both at the entrance to the car park, on the various lampposts within it and inside the restaurant.
“We’re working with industry-approved contractors who use cameras that have been in place for some time to make sure customers stay within their 90-minute limits.”
Metro.co.uk has contacted UK Parking Control for comment.
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