Gatwick Airport warns holidaymakers are putting lives at RISK with new money-saving hack to save on parking

GATWICK Airport has warned holidaymakers against a new 'travel hack' to avoid paying the drop-off charges.

TikTok user Lucy, who goes by the name Footluce, recently shared the holiday tip when travelling to the airport.

She showed how she gets to Gatwick Airport without paying the £5 drop-off fee.

The video, which has been watched more than 1.3million times, was captioned: "You refuse to pay the £5 drop-off charge at Gatwick so you take the Shell shortcut."

She then showed herself getting dropped off at the Shell Garage, which was "literally two minutes" from the terminal.

She wrote in the comments: "Budget travel starts at the airport huns."

Lucy also said this was best for the North Terminal but for the South Terminal to use the shuttle.

However, Gatwick Airport has since warned people against doing this, citing health and safety as it is a busy road to cross.

A Gatwick Airport spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: “We urge passengers not to use this hack as we are observing a significant number of people crossing the busy roads in an unsafe manner.  

"Anyone who does not wish to pay the drop off charge can instead drop off, pick up and park for free for up to two hours in our Long Stay car parks.  

"Gatwick also has strong public transport links, including trains that leave the station for London or toward the South Coast every few minutes – as frequent as a Tube service.”

People online still loved the hack - one person said: "Literally going to Gatwick tomorrow, so tysm!"

Another said: "Don’t blame you , airports are such a rip off for dropping off."

Many said to be careful as some airport petrol stations have started issuing tickets for people caught doing this.

In 2019, a mum was fined £60 for collecting her daughter from arrivals while she was filling her car with petrol at East Midlands Airport, along with another couple who were also stung.

One person said in her video comments: "Make sure the Shell car park doesn’t give you a ticket, they’ve been known to in the past."

And someone who works at Gatwick commented: "If you don't buy anything, you get a ticket."

However, Lucy said she hasn't had a fine yet for the clever trick.

If you don't want to try it for yourself, there is the long-stay car park at Gatwick, which has a free shuttle service.

Earlier this year, a fuming husband was hit with a £100 fine after pulling over for "45 seconds" at Bristol Airport during a massive panic attack.

Most airports have drop-off charges - here is how to pay them at Heathrow Airport.

And here are some of the other pricey UK airport fees and how to avoid them.