Chesterfield nurse fined almost £500 after using McDonald's drive-through two nights in a row

Rachel Fairchild, 47, a complex care nurse, was shocked when she found out she has been fined over £300 five months after using a drive through at Barlborough McDonald’s two nights in a row.

Rachel, who at the time was an amazon driver waiting for her contract as a complex care nurse to start, said: “It was after 14 hour shift and I was on my way home, I went into the drive-through and then I did the same the following night as I'd done another long shift.

“I think it's disgraceful when after working long hours you use a drive-through and then you receive a parking fine for something that you've not even done. It's quite appalling that the system is not accurate enough to see the vehicles leaving.”

After receiving a letter from a debt company on behalf of UK Parking Control Limited, Rachel who specialises in spine injuries and helps paralysed people, wanted to complain but there were no numbers to contact them and the only phone number on the document was an automatic pay line.

Rachel decided not to pay and then got another letter this time from a different firm.

She said: “ I got through to a woman from the second company. I asked for a photo proof of my car actually in the car park, not the drive-through, and she said they can’t provide it. She also said it was too far gone and I couldn't contest it and added I would have to wait until I have received another letter from the court to complain. And then I received the third letter, still not from the court but a different company that just had the pay number on it again. I couldn't get in touch with anyone.”

Rachel has now received a final court letter charging her for over £466. She was informed she can contest the decision, but will need to pay over £100 to do so and if she looses the case, she will have to pay the court costs on top of the fine.

Rachel said: “I would understand this if I had left my car and I would happily pay the fine. But I did not leave the vehicle there at all, because I literally just used the drive-through, not even the car park.

“I have seen another article about somebody having the exact same thing happen to them at McDonald’s in Sheffield. How many of the people are suffering like this? £400 is a lot of money and there's a lot of vulnerable people out there that should not be getting a fine like that just because the system is not accurate.”

The Derbyshire Times has contacted UK Parking Control Limited for a comment but so far they have declined to respond.