A dad who visited McDonald's with his daughter for a birthday treat has slammed the branch after his family received a £200 fine.
Nick Forrester, 45, and his mum were each handed a £100 penalty from the Festival Park branch for using the car park longer than agreed.
The cemetery worker had earlier taken daughter Sadie and her friends to the nearby Just Kidding before stopping off for a birthday bite to eat. The branch only permits a 90-minute stay per guest but Nick and his family were parked for 107 minutes.
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Following the incident, Nick, from Abbey Hulton, Stoke-on-Trent, decided to boycott the branch. He said: "We pulled onto the Maccies' car park after being at Just Kidding and got out of the car. We went into Maccies and it took ages to choose. We managed to get out, got into the car, drove off, and we thought nothing of it.
"A few days later, my mum rang me and said she had got a letter saying we had overstayed. Straight away I phoned Maccies and asked if we could speak to the manager.
"After a conversation, we found out that we had to appeal through Parkingeye. But what a load of rubbish - it is ridiculous.
"Sadie lost her mother to cancer in 2019 and now she can't go out for a meal with her friends. They can check the CCTV and they will see that we were in the restaurant. I know McDonald's can overturn it but they won't.
"We were eating in the establishment. It is a relaxed environment and 90 minutes is not long enough. They are driving people out of the city with this. They have got no compassion. It is disgusting how they have treated their customers."
McDonald's says it has signs in its car park highlighting the 90-minute parking limit, Stoke On Trent Live reported.
A McDonald's spokesman added: "If a customer feels that 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."
Car park operator Parkingeye stands by its decisions.
A Parkingeye spokesman said: “The car park at McDonald’s Festival Park features prominent and highly-visible signs providing information on how to use the car park responsibly. This includes guidance on how McDonald’s customers have a maximum stay of 90 minutes. The motorists correctly received parking charge notices (PCNs) due to each of them parking for 107 minutes. Our records show that both PCNs have been paid without appeal.
“Parkingeye operates a British Parking Association audited appeals process which motorists can use to appeal their PCN. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing.”
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