Northampton cinema goer 'surprised' after being slapped with £100 fine for... watching the new Mission Impossible film

A cinema goer is fuming after being fined £100 after parking at a controversial cinema car park in Northampton.

Thomas Jordan, from Harpole, went to watch Mission Impossible VII: Dead Reckoning with his wife on Wednesday, July 19 at the same time Cobblers were playing Birmingham at Sixfields Stadium.

The 32-year-old was slapped with a £100 fine the post the next day from UK Parking Control (UKPC), which operates the car park.

According to signage, UKPC will fine anyone for parking in the car park for more than 90 minutes on a Cobblers matchday – Mission Impossible has a running time of two hours and 43 minutes.

The £100 fine came as a shock to Mr Jordan and he now wants to warn thousands of other cinema goers.

The husband said: “We were unaware that it was a match day. We arrived long before the match started and left long after it was over. So imagine my surprise to receive a notice of parking charge as a result of using the Cineworld car park to see a film.

“It's July - I was not expecting there to be football, especially as I arrived long before it started and left after it had finished. I'm not a football fan – that's why I go to the cinema. Yet how could I possibly be expected to be at the cinema for a mere hour and thirty minutes when the running time of the film I saw was nearly twice that, including adverts and trailers?

“This is an appalling failure of business policy that I cannot believe Cineworld has allowed to affect its car park. Cineworld may not operate the car park, but it is absolutely the cinema car park.

”As a business that has already neared bankruptcy this year, Cineworld has hit upon a policy that will slowly but surely drive customers elsewhere.

"I have been a Cineworld Unlimited customer for over ten years at this point, and am ready to drop my subscription as a result of this frankly terrible policy.”

Mr Jordan is awaiting the outcome of his appeal.

In April this year Cineworld announced series of car parking changes including on Cobblers and Saints matchdays.

Cineworld said the changes mean that on normal, non-matchdays, anyone who uses the car park will be subject to a four hour maximum stay. If film-lovers believe they will be there for longer than four hours, they will need to enter their car registration number on a tablet inside the cinema, along with proof of cinema ticket.

On matchdays, there will now be a 90-minute maximum. Those staying longer will need proof of a cinema ticket.

Posting to its Facebook page, the cinema said: “There will be new guidelines for use of our car park.“There will be a four hour maximum stay for everyone, and if you feel you will be parked longer, we have tablets in-cinema (across from each set of toilets) you can simply enter your reg number into, along with proof of receipt/ticket.

“On match days there will be a 90 minute maximum stay, so again if you are watching a film/in Starbucks and think you'll be longer, you can enter your reg number and show proof of receipt/ticket to get your parking validated.”

Replying to comments on the social media post, the cinema also added that it will advertise “every time you’re watching a film” to enter registration numbers into the tablet to “avoid any fines”.

According to the cinema’s website, Cineworld does not own or operate the car park.

A Cineworld spokeswoman said: “Cineworld Northampton customers can park at the Sixfields Leisure car park for free for up to four hours or 90 minutes on match days.

"Customers wishing to park for longer can validate parking by entering their registration details and proof of ticket purchase into one of the tablets located inside the cinema, to avoid paying a fine.

"Full information on parking restrictions can be found on the signs located across the cinema.

"The Sixfields Leisure car park also provides signs across the car park with details of the restrictions.

“Customers with issues validating their parking while visiting us can speak to our staff for further assistance.”

In response, Tom said: “The staff at the cinema did not tell us about this iPad where we could log our license plate, nor did the phone conversation with them, or the email exchange.”