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Search forExclusive: Thornton Heath gran given parking ticket for spending too long in McDonald's
Friday, August 22, 2008, 07:00
By Anna Edwards
A TRIP to McDonald's ended with a grandmother being fined £100 - because her grandchildren took too long to eat their Happy Meals.
Eileen Johnson, 60, had taken her two grandchildren to the branch in London Road, Thornton Heath, for a tea-time treat.
But when she returned to her car in the restaurant's car park she found she had been given a ticket for spending 68 minutes inside the fast food favourite.
Mrs Johnson, from Green Lane, Thornton Heath, said: "I'm a pensioner, I couldn't believe it when I saw it there.
"I was so angry, it's a family place and I took the children there to have some chicken nuggets as a treat, they were so excited.
"I think parking attendants must have been watching the car, because I was only eight minutes over.
"I hadn't even been aware there was an hour limit, I thought the ticket was a promotion on my car at first."
Mrs Johnson had taken granddaughter Mary and grandson Dan, both 3, to the McDonald's last Friday (August 15) at around 4.30pm.
As well as taking some time to finish their food they played in the restaurant's massive play den.
Mrs Johnson said: "It was a rainy day, and it was a rare treat for them.
"They had some chicken nuggets, a little play, then had some Wispa ice cream.
"An hour's not very long, sometimes it can take that long for two or three-year-olds just to eat, and they wanted a little play there.
"Such parking fines aren't very family-orientated, unsuspecting parents must go in without realising, and the signs aren't exactly in your face.
"I just thought it was best to let others know there's a time limit there.
"The worst thing is that there's free parking over the road, I could have left my car there and crossed over."
McDonald's Happy Meals cost £1.99 each, and a McFlurry costs 99p, so the total Mrs Johnson should have paid was £5.96.
The £100 fine would have seen the trip costing nearly 17 times that much.
But after the Advertiser took her case to the fast food chain, it quickly backtracked and agreed to cancel her fine.
A spokesman said: "Mrs Johnson had visited our Thornton Heath restaurant on a family day out and we would like to apologise to her for this incident.
"The parking control company MET issued the ticket correctly, however, after reviewing details of this particular case, MET have agreed with Mrs Johnson that they will cancel the fine."
NO MCFLURRY HURRY: Eileen Johnson and granddaughter Mary who spent too long in the McDonald's
Pic by
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