Prison officer Bradley Pashley, of Collingham, fined £160 for visiting McDonald's

A man has been issued with a £160 penalty notice for parking at a fast food restaurant ­— when he was actually in prison.

Prison officer and retained fireman Mr Bradley Pashley, 23, had visited the McDonald’s restaurant at Markham Moor, near Retford, around 6.35am on February 13. He bought a takeaway breakfast for the colleague he was relieving after a night shift and returned to the same restaurant around 12.15pm to pick up lunch on the way home.

The penalty notice claimed he had remained there for the whole period.

Mr Pashley didn’t even park his Seat Altea at the restaurant because he used the drive-thru service, but still received a penalty notice from UK Parking Control (UKPC) Ltd, one of the UK’s largest car park operators.

“It was a bit weird, because when I thought about it, there was no way I could have stayed there the whole time,” Mr Pashley said.

“I had just moved house, so had not picked up the mail from my previous address for a while. When I saw the penalty notice it was already too late to appeal.”

Mr Pashley rang the debt collection company that was pursuing him to explain, but offered only to reduce the fine by £24, to £136.

“I told them I was not going to pay anything because I know I wasn’t there,” he said.

UKPC has more than 2,000 car park sites nationwide, including hospitals, supermarkets, retail centres and fast food restaurants.

The company recently featured in a another case reported by the Advertiser, when Emily MacNab, 18, also from Collingham, was issued with a £100 penalty notice. She was accused of over-staying at Newark KFC after making two brief visits, several hours apart. UKPC claimed she had been parked at the restaurant for the whole period.

Mr Pashley did consider giving in to the demands, but a friend, Mr Jeremy Jones, had challenged UKPC on a previous occasion and took up the battle on Mr Pashley’s behalf.

Mr Pashley has written evidence that he was at work during the disputed hours.

“We have written to the company asking them to commence litigation in the County Court for recovery of the debt relating to the alleged breach of contract,” said Mr Jones.

“We have heard nothing back from UKPC or their debt recovery company. How many more cases like this are out there? It’s quite sickening how they put pressure on people.”

The Advertiser contacted UKPC Ltd but received no response.

A member of staff at the Markham Moor McDonalds, who did not wish to be named, said: “We have new cameras, which do catch a lot more people and we do get quite a few complaints, but we have a lot of signs around the building. This is the first time I’ve heard about a complaint like this one.”

A spokesman for McDonald’s said: “If a customer believes they have been issued a ticket incorrectly they should appeal, as per the parking control company guidelines. If it is identified an error has occurred appropriate action will be taken. Our third party parking control companies operate within strict British Parking Association (BPA) code of practice.”