AN elderly lady from Bournemouth, who was fined £150 for unknowingly staying 11 minutes over the maximum parking allowance while eating at a fast food restaurant in Christchurch, has warned other customers to be careful.
Motee Darke, who regularly visits KFC in Lyndhurst Road with her friends, says she was disgusted at being penalised for narrowly breaching the 75-minute free allowance while being parked in a disabled spot at the eaterie.
The 83-year-old woman, who has trouble walking after a hip replacement, went for to eat at the fast food outlet with friends one evening at the end of last month.
After waiting in her car for them to arrive, the hungry trio was surprised to discover there was a large queue leading out of the door.
"There were probably about 30 people in the queue so my friend and I went to sit down because my legs aren't so good, while her husband waited to order our food", she said.
"I didn't realise there was a maximum wait on the car park. It took us a long time to get our food and I think once we had eaten it we must have been there about an hour and-a-half at the most but we didn't think anything of it.
"I was so shocked and upset when I got the letter. I was so worried about how I'm going to be able to pay it. I just don't have that sort of money out of my pension."
She added: "All of our friends are boycotting it now. They say they won't go because of what has happened to me. It's a shame because the staff are all lovely, but this is wrong."
A spokesperson for KFC said: "A parking restriction was introduced at the Lyndhurst Road store to stop non-KFC customers using the car park. The 75-minute time restriction is clearly sign-posted and is designed to accommodate our customers who generally eat for around 30 minutes.
"We regret that Ms Darke feels she has cause for complaint and we would ask her, as a genuine customer, to speak to Civil Enforcement directly who will be happy to look into her individual case."
After the Daily Echo contacted the Civil Enforcement agency regarding Mrs Darke's plight, they sent the elderly lady a letter cancelling the penalty.
She said: "I was so pleased. It's such a relief. But other people need to be careful."
