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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tom Kershaw & Graeme Murray

Puzzled couple hit with £100 fine after visiting McDonald's twice within 14 hours

A man was stunned to be fined £100 after his car was seen visiting McDonald's twice within 14 hours.

Ben Mulhal went to the fast food restaurant for his dinner before his wife visited the same location for breakfast the next day.

But he was astonished to receive a parking ticket claiming he had spent more than 14 hours in the car park.

The 32-year-old had driven home after getting a McChicken Sandwich on September 30 before his car was seen in the restaurant parking lot the next day, driven by his wife.

LeicestershireLive reports the camera had not seen him leaving the first time or the car arriving at the location again the next morning.

The fine Ben Mulhall received states he was seen leaving the car park the next morning (Ben Mulhall/MEN MEDIA)
Further details of the parking ticket (Ben Mulhall/MEN MEDIA)

Ben is now appealing to the company that manages the car park.

He said: "I know sometimes you have to wait for your food but I definitely didn't wait that long. I was amused when I got the letter.

"I wasn't angry or annoyed, I just like exposing incompetence. The cameras must have just missed me leaving and the car coming back in.

"My wife sometimes likes a McDonald's breakfast on her way back from a night shift and I think that's what they've caught the next day."

Ben's car was captured arriving before leaving the next morning (Ben Mulhall/MEN MEDIA)

The parking ticket shows a picture of his car entering the car park at 5.56pm on September 30.

It is then seen leaving the car park at 8.22am on October 1 and calculated he had been in the car park for 14 hours and 25 minutes.

The fine for his 'overnight' stay amounts to £100 which is discounted to £50 if paid in 14 days.

Ben has CCTV footage taken from outside his house that shows him binning a McDonald's bag at home at 6.29pm.

The parking charge notice which Ben disputes (Ben Mulhall/MEN MEDIA)

He said: "I have lodged an appeal with the parking company,"

"I doubt I'll hear back for days though."

He added that he does not intend to pay the parking ticket while he waits to hear back about his appeal.

The Mirror reported in July how another fast food lover was fined £50 for parking at his local McDonald's too long as he tucked into a meal.

Ben does not intend to pay the parking ticket while he waits to hear back about his appeal (Getty Images)

The unnamed man enjoyed an extended stay of two hours at the branch in Coalville, Leicestershire, which saw him order extra drinks.

However he was then hit with a bill for breaching parking restrictions.

Posting on Facebook group Spotted Whitwick, he said: "So annoyed just had a fine for parking at McDonald’s for nearly 2 hours, we was there all that time eating and extra drinks have now got a fine.

"Anyone else had this."

Many McDonald's stores have a time restriction on parking, which is usually between 90 minutes to two hours - but the parking is operated by a private company.

The store in question has a 90 minute parking restriction.

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