A dad claims he was “cheated” after being fined while visiting a McDonald’s with his family.
Marcus Ward had parked near a branch of the restaurant in Walsgrave, Coventry.
The 35-year-old and his wife had taken their two young children for lunch and an afternoon at McDonald’s soft play.
A few days later though, a parking ticket appeared on their front door.
Marcus said the charge, from UK Parking Control, said his wife and children had exceeded the 90-minute limit for customer parking by around 10 minutes.
The lack of signage meant the family was unaware of the rules, he claimed.
The furious dad told CoventryLive: “You’ve got a soft play in that McDonald’s so you’re going to be there a lot longer than a normal McDonald’s.
“If you figure out how long it takes a parent to get the kids out of the car, change them, feed them and gently play, it’s definitely over an hour and a half.”
“It’s too much money to use a facility that has parking.
“I’ve lived in Coventry all my life and never knew the car park had a time limit.
“Everything is almost ready for you to fail and be caught in this trap. It is incredible “.
Marcus has been fighting the parking ticket since last August.
He had now been told he would have to face the parking charge in court with the fine reaching £170.
He said: “I mind because it’s fair and unfair. It’s absolutely shocking. It’s basically like being robbed but somehow legally.
“If my wife parked there and went to another shop and came back, I would have paid the fine, but as I am very much against paying it morally, I dig my heels in and stick to my principles.
Marcus wants to warn others about the time limit at the popular restaurant to prevent people from “falling into the trap.”
A McDonald’s spokesman said: “We have time-limited parking restrictions in place at some of our restaurants to ensure there is sufficient parking for all our customers.
“Abundant signage regarding these restrictions is clearly displayed both as you drive into the car park, on various lampposts within it and inside the restaurant.
“We work with industry-approved contractors who use the cameras, which have been in place for some time, to ensure customers are within the 90-minute limit.”
Metro.co.uk has contacted UK Parking Control for comment.
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