Mansfield mum and grandmother slapped with fines after taking family to McDonald's

A mother of four has been slapped with a £50 parking fine after taking her children to the McDonalds near King's Mill hospital.
The McDonalds restaurantThe McDonalds restaurant
The McDonalds restaurant

Beverley Parr, aged 36, went to the restaurant for a catch up with her family on January 9.

She and her four children met her mum and sister, with Beverley's four children and her sister's two children, who ranged in age from 13 to two years old.

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The Rainworth mum said "I arrived at 3.40pm in the car park and waited for 15 minutes for my mum and sister to arrive.

The McDonalds restaurantThe McDonalds restaurant
The McDonalds restaurant

"I didn't notice any signs warning of a time limit - you look for signs when you go shopping, but who looks for signs when you're eating somewhere?

"The nine of us spent over £65 on meals, and my partner asked me to bring home food for him.

"When there are six kids with you, it's not a quick job - they can't decide what they want, then they need the toilet.

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"We went for the family to get together, and for the children to see their grandma, it was nice to catch up.

"We don't all get to see each other that often, which is why we ended up staying so long.

"That's where we chose to have a catch up, we don't see each other that much anymore - kids don't see each other any more.

Beverley then left the car park at 5.52 pm, adding: "When we came to leave, the little ones didn't want to be strapped in their seats, which lead to me staying even longer."

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Beverley then received a penalty charge notice from UKPC parking on February 20, demanding she pay £50 for staying longer than 90 minutes.

Beverley's mum, Lynne Savage, also received the same notice, after staying for just 18 minutes over the allotted parking time allowed.

Beverley added: "I wasn't going to pay the fine but I don't want the hassle - the letter states that the fine will increase to £100 if it's not paid in 14 days, and if you appeal and lose, you have to pay other charges.

"They basically force you into paying it.

"We spoke to the managers and customer services but they flatly refuse to do anything - It’s ridiculous that a place where you sit to eat has a restriction on time.

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"We did appeal the ticket, which got rejected, and the managers just weren't interested.

"My mum and dad won't set foot in a McDonald's again, and I won't be going back to that branch - I just want others to be aware."

The car park is controlled by third-party contractors, UKPC parking.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said: "We have parking restrictions in place at a number of our restaurants, including at the Kings Mill restaurant, with a time limit to ensure there is adequate parking for all of our customers. We make these clear to our customers with signage in the car park.

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“Where restrictions are in place, we work with industry-approved contractors to ensure they are clearly signposted and communicated. If a customer feels they have been wrongly ticketed, we would encourage them to get in touch with the third party contractor who issued the ticket by way of appeal.”

UKPC parking have been approached for comment.