McDonalds/UKPC parking charge

[Obelus]

Hello, newbie here, have had a browse of other posts but still unsure about what's what so starting new post which hopefully set's out the issue. Thank's for reading

Have received a Parking Charge letter from UKPC re exceeding the maximum duration of stay in a McDonalds car park.

Is it legal, should it be paid or fought, are there any issues/problems?.

A Google search led me here (+other places), many of which say don’t pay or appeal it.

Is it worth appealing or a waste of time?.

Never had one before, no idea how to respond.

Any help/advice gratefully received.


Date of alleged offence: 1^st september 2020.
On 01/09/2020 @ 06.15am the registered keeper (RK) of the vehicle was in hospital awaiting spinal decompression surgery.


SYNOPSIS

• Having escorted the patient (RK) to the hospital entrance, they were met by a member of staff who then took over and escorted the patient (RK) in to the hospital building. Due to covid-19 measures enforced by the hospital only the patient was permitted to enter the building.
• The driver of the vehicle, having been up since 04.30am and in dire need of a hot drink asked the staff member @ the hospital if there was somewhere local to get a coffee, they were given directions to a nearby McDonalds & a shopping/garden centre which they were advised did not open until around 09.00am.
• It is to be noted that the hospital entailed a 45 minute motorway drive to an unfamiliar area hence the need for directions.
• Having followed the directions to McDonalds they parked the car, donned their mask in observance of covid-19 regulations and followed the designated route through the barriers, to enter the building where they ordered a coffee and sat inside at a table whilst drinking it.
• How long they sat there they do not know, their mind was rather pre occupied with other matters, on finishing their coffee they made use of the toilet facilities.
• Before leaving the building they purchased another coffee to take out and sat in the car whilst drinking it and called family to keep them updated on the surgery situation.

• At no point did they see any signs about parking restrictions, the only sign they noticed was the 1 for the drive through. If there were signs about parking they were not highly obvious nor numerous.
• On finishing their coffee they started the car, depressed the clutch and their left calf muscle cramped severely, (an existing circulation problem) they turned off the engine and tried to massage the muscle, that did not help so they got out of the car and moved around until it finally eased and they felt it was safe to drive, (approx 20/30 minutes is a normal average for this) they then left McDonalds and drove to the shopping centre
• They used their walking stick and walked around the garden centre before having another coffee and some toast, followed by another walk around the plants & shrubs.
• They then returned to the car, it was very hot so they drank some water and went back into the shopping centre where it was cooler and browsed the other shops there.
• @ 01.00 they received a call from the patient (RK) to say the surgery had gone very well and they were being discharged around 2pm.
• The driver returned to the car, found they were almost out of water so drove back to McDonalds and purchased 2 bottles of water before returning to the hospital to wait for the patient (RK) to be discharged.
• NB: Last time the RK or the driver were in a McDonalds was 2011, they don’t eat fast foods.