People have complained of receiving parking tickets for merely stopping for seconds at Whitfield service station near Dover.
Drivers stopping to get food from the McDonald&apos;s or waiting to get petrol or air from the garage have fallen victim to new restrictions imposed by UK Car Park Management Ltd.
The firm&apos;s automatic number plate recognition system (ANPR) uses cameras to identify vehicles before sending a parking charge notice to the driver&apos;s given address.
Those who have received a ticket in the post some days later have found that the ticket does not include an entry time or duration for their alleged offence.
According to tickets uploaded onto Facebook, Whitfield appears to be written as "Whitefield Services ANPR". Whitefield is in fact a town in Bury, Greater Manchester.
The restrictions have been imposed by the site owners to prevent customers and delivery vehicles parking on the access road.
A petition, called "Remove ANPR at McDonald&apos;s/Esso site" has now received more than 100 signatures.
The petition&apos;s description says: "Queuing to get food, petrol or stopping in the case of an emergency?
"There is growing concern on the amount of people that are being fined for being in the forecourt area of Esso/McDonald’s for as little as 10 seconds and receiving fines of £100 plus.
"This seems to have been since the renovation of the new McDonald’s and needs to stop. This needs to be removed as build up of queues to the food chain or the petrol station cannot always be guaranteed."
One person commented: "I collect my daughter from work at McDonald&apos;s at gone 11pm most evenings. I&apos;m sat in the car for like two minutes so far this week alone I&apos;ve had five tickets through the post.
Another added: "The parking fine is ridiculous. My husband pulled over to drop my nephew off. He didn&apos;t get out of the van or switch it off. He was there for 26 seconds and was fined."
A driver even claims to have had a ticket issued when their car broke down and they were awaiting rescue.
There was some confusion about where the tickets were actually coming from, with some people believing it came from the newly refurbished McDonald&apos;s.
The fast food chain have strongly refuted that they have anything to do with these parking tickets. In fact, vehicles that deliver supplies to their restaurant and vans carrying out maintenance work are also receiving tickets.
Kent Live understands McDonald&apos;s is frustrated by the new parking regulations because they hamper business for their customers and for their own staff.
A spokesman said: "These fines are not related to the McDonald’s restaurant at Whitfield or any affiliated partners.
"We welcome customers to use our parking facilities freely when visiting our restaurant, and want them to do so without concern."
The spokesman also reiterated that there have been no changes to their policy within their own park, and that they do not fine people using their bays.
The land at Whitfield Services used to be owned by the Kanagaratnam brothers who run the Ramada Hotel. However, after they split in 2016, the land was sold off to Rajaseelan.
Rajamenon Kanagaratnam confirmed: "We no longer own Whitfield Service station. We sold this business to Mr. K. Rajaseelan who owns Dover Marina Hotel in Dover."
The following video explains your rights if you are issued a parking charge.
A spokesman for Whitfield Service Station said: "Whitfield Service Station, which owns the access road and the property, has a planning and legal requirement to have an access road to service McDonalds outlet and the service station.
"In recent years the service station management have been concerned over their customers and delivery vehicles parking on the access road which is the property of the service station.
"In particular, this has affected the large trucks from safely entering the service station access road to refuel at our Diesel Lorry pumps and presents a health and safety issue.
"The parking problem has continued to be a problem despite us laying double lines and erecting multiple no parking signs.
"This has left the service station with little choice on the grounds of health and safety and the need to keep the access road free of obstruction, to engage a parking enforcement company in mid-October.
"The service station has gone to great lengths to engage a reputable operator, UK Park Management Ltd. who manages 6000 sites across the UK and ensure the signage is clear.
"Steps have also been taken to ensuring that queuing traffic is not affected to either business as there is a two minute photo capture and before any fine is issued the photos are double checked to ensure that the vehicles receiving the fines are parked, rather than queuing."
A spokesman for UK Car Park Management Ltd. - the private parking company based in Brighton - confirmed the regulations they are enforcing, adding: "The service station in question is privately owned.
"There are double yellow lines and clear signage that states "No parking or stopping on roadways at any time".
"Vehicles parked in this area cause obstruction and significantly impede traffic flow.
"This could subsequently restrict the emergency services and lead to health and safety issues.
"Vehicles queuing on the roadway are not subjected to the restrictions.
"The scheme started on October 11, 2018.
"Motorists who have received a parking charge are advised to follow the appeals procedure and adhere to the restrictions when at the premises."
Have you received a ticket? We&apos;d like to hear from you. Please email andrew.robinson02@reachplc.com to share your experience.