The ‘McDonalds’ parking ticket

Another type of establishment that issues private parking tickets are drive-through restaurants, such as McDonalds, Burger King and KFC. These restaurants often have car parks in premium areas, such as near airports, and have put in place parking restrictions to try to deter abuse.

Unfortunately the companies that they have contracted to perform their parking enforcement, such as MET Parking and UK Parking Control (UKPC), do so ‘aggressively’ in order to maximise their profits. As a result genuine customers get penalised for unintentional infractions of the car park terms and conditions. Often these car parks are monitored using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras,  which determine the length of stay, and are therefore very effective at generating parking tickets.

So, what do you do if you get a parking ticket from a drive-through (or their parking enforcement company)?

Treat it the same as any other private parking ticket! They’re not fines, they’re not the same as council or police issued parking tickets, they’re invoices requesting payment for allegedly breaking a contract. To learn more, read on….

  1. Understand what private parking tickets are
  2. Find out how they’re issued and enforced
  3. Decide whether to appeal
  4. Decide whether to pay

And then if you don’t want to pay, learn how to fight back!

If you have received a ticket in a restaurant car park, you may want to try our online legal advice partner, Just Answer. They will provide you details on how to deal with them. Click here to make a no-obligation enquiry.