Unhappy Meal: Man gets Rs 2 lakh parking fine after buying grandson McDonald's meal for Rs 200

A simple McDonald's meal proved to be a thousand times costly for a grandfather who was just trying to get a Happy meal for his grandson.

John Babbage of Luton took his grandson Tyler to his local Maccies and bought a $2.79 (Rs 200) happy meal. However, he was slapped with a parking fine of $2,800 (Rs 2 lakhs) after having fallen asleep.

The 75-year-old fell asleep in the car and ended up overstaying the 2-hour free parking by just 17 minutes. At that time, his grandson was playing with his friends and had no idea about the parking fee.

Babbage said he wasn't aware he had already received four £100 fines as the notices were sent to an address that didn't exist. He came to know about the fines only when officials from the debt collection firm DCBL came to his house and demanded £400 in fines and £1,651 in costs.

Later, the couple learned the fine was issued by Highview Parking, which runs the car park where the fine was issued.

According to reports, Highview Parking had obtained a county court judgment just a few days before the officials visited Babbage's home. Their case will be heard in court next month.

Interestingly, Babbage isn't the only person who has been slapped with a heavy fine for visiting McDonald's. However, most recent cases are connected to quarantine and coronavirus restrictions

In January, a woman was penalised for driving 100 miles to a McDonald's outlet amid a lockdown.

"Driving through three counties to get a burger is not classed as essential travel. So the woman, who is in her 30s, received a fixed penalty notice from North Yorkshire Police," Chief Inspector Rachel Wood had said.