McDonald's Leeds: Update as company responds to appeal after ticket states man spent 14 hours in drive through

Ben Butler-Sutton visited McDonalds in Killingbeck just before 6pm on September 30 and reckons he left around 20 minutes later with his McChicken Sandwich meal.

A few days later, however, he received a letter from the company running the site’s CCTV, stating that they had registered him leaving at 8.22am the next morning.

However, after appealing his fine, Ben has been given the green light by UK Parking Control, stating that his parking charge has now been “cancelled”.

Ben, 32, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “I am pleased that UK Parking Control finally saw sense and cancelled my parking charge notice.

"I hope this story goes some way to highlight issues with privately managed car parks and ANPR camera systems and helps more motorists to avoid paying these fines in the future.

“I was pleased when I received the letter and thought ‘1-0 to me’.”

The letter Ben eventually received from UK Parking Control earlier this week stated: “Thank you for your recent correspondence.

“We have investigated the appeal based on the information you have submitted and confirm that in this instance the parking charge has been cancelled.

"No further action is required in relation to this parking charge and the matter is now closed.”

Speaking last month, when he was first contesting his charge, Halton resident Ben said: “I do enjoy an occasional McDonalds, and I know their drive thru can be slow, but it certainly wasn't 14 hours and 26 minutes.

"If anything, I was somewhat amused. I thought ‘what utter incompetence’ and ‘how many people have actually paid PCNs for presumably faulty ANPR cameras?’”

“If UKPC ask for proof I wasn't there, my home CCTV system will prove I was at home between the stated times.”

Following the incident, Ben took to social media to warn others, writing: “Watch out for these, their cameras must be broken.”

He added: “I like to expose incompetence, bad driving and general stupidity - this is like Christmas.”