I was fined £100 for parking at McDonald’s for SIX HOURS… but I was at home all day
A MUM was fined £100 for allegedly parking at McDonald’s for almost six hours - but she claims she was at home all day.
Tracy Stephenson, 40, picked up a latte when she dropped her partner at work in his van before heading back home.
But parking firm UKPC sent a letter a week later insisting the vehicle was parked up for five hours and 43 minutes outside the fast food chain in Middlesbrough, North Yorks.
Single mum Tracy, who does not live with her partner, said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous.
"I can’t afford it and I refuse to pay it when I haven’t done anything wrong.”
She said she may be the victim of a so-called double-dip camera fault when cars park up twice in one day.
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It happens when automatic number plate recognition cameras pick up the first entrance and second exit, which are often hours apart.
But she also suggested the vehicle pictured exiting the car park may not even be hers because the number plate on the image is hazy.
UKPC told her officials checked the ANPR system and cameras only recorded one entry and exit. Tracy wants them to check the CCTV to see her arriving and leaving.
Tracy, of Darlington, Co Durham, told : "It's stress that we do not need. I'm just a taxi at the minute going back and forth."
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"I doubt they haven't even looked in the time frame of the 10 possibly 20 minutes after we were pictured going in to see if we had left.
"If I had done it I would have just owned up to it and pay the fine and sulk, but the fact I definitely was not there for that duration is just beggar's belief.
"I don't know what else I can do, I'm just tearing my hair out.
"They have dismissed the fact that I've said I was not there.
"They haven't investigated it any further on their side and they're just wanting me to pay up."
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Tracy called it daylight robbery and vowed never to use the drive-thru again.
UKPC was approached for comment.
