What does their signage say about a "waiting" time limit as i would imagine there must be something or anyone dropping off or picking up would be getting a letter ?
Tell them you felt unwell so had to stop for a break , tell them you had to answer a very important phone call and had to stop in order to take it , tell them the car was overheating and had to stop to let it cool down before continuing on your way , tell them there was a police "incident" in the carpark and you decided to move on rather than potentially get caught up in something.
Either one of the above or just pay the £40 and put it down to being annoyingly ripped off and in the future eat elsewhere in protest.
FWIW i would fork out the £40 knowing it had been put to bed.
K
Tell them you felt unwell so had to stop for a break , tell them you had to answer a very important phone call and had to stop in order to take it , tell them the car was overheating and had to stop to let it cool down before continuing on your way , tell them there was a police "incident" in the carpark and you decided to move on rather than potentially get caught up in something.
Either one of the above or just pay the £40 and put it down to being annoyingly ripped off and in the future eat elsewhere in protest.
FWIW i would fork out the £40 knowing it had been put to bed.
K