Car Clamping
 

I want to write to fellow travelers to warn you of a practice being allowed in England-car clamping. If you are going to England soon be sure to research car clamping. My rental car was clamped in Haworth, England. It was totally unjustified and I had no recourse. They make the rules and will not listen to any reasonable conversation. The man who put a clamp on my car was very mean and tried to intimidate me. He did a good job of that. This just happened to me last week. I've been to 7 countries in the past two years and this is my worst experience from all my travels. I've been to Britain 6 times and had never encountered this. I usually rent a car and have had to park in many cities and areas. I would expect this to happen somewhere else, no offense to other countries, but not in England. I know that there will be people from Britain who will say that it happens when you park somewhere not lawful. I understand that argument, however this was not my case. I was in an official looking car park and had paid for the whole day. I can't write all the details, they would be too long. If someone had warned me, I could have been on my guard. If you are going to Haworth, do not park in the car park just opposite the Edinburgh Woolen Company. By the way, I had to pay well over 100 USD.

'By the way, I had to pay well over 100 USD.'

Only $100? Going rate for clamp release fee is £200 to £300 (or $325 to $490).
In England, there is no effective control of clampers operating on private properties, and they can, and do, charge what they like. Provided there was a clear sign warning you of clamping, and you did contravene the rules, you have no choice but to pay, and police won't do anything - it's a private matter, they say.
Clamping on private grounds has been outlawed in Scotland, so you will be safe there.

This is a very useful warning. You do have to read the signs very carefully. You can also buy a ticket at a machine in the street but inadvertently park in an adjacent area which is not covered by the ticket.

Did you overstay the time on your ticket? They warn about this on the website for the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. At the bottom of this web page http://www.kwvr.co.uk/

I am thankful it wasn't more. I've read blogs on this topic and others have had to pay a lot more. I think what bothers me is the fact that I knew the police would not help me and when you are a visitor in another country it's very disheartening. I did not overstay my time. The man claimed I was over a line, which was not clearly marked. He admitted mud was covering the line. He also claimed he couldn't use the space next to my car. It didn't matter that there was an orange cone in the next space, water sitting and obvious construction work going on in the next space. In afterthought, it seems like a very convenient set-up. As for signs, there was one actually turned away from the car park and none in visible sight of my vehicle. If, as this man claimed, he could not use the space next to my car, then he could have charged me the amount he would have earned for that space, which would be about $10. The bottom line for me is that, as a tourist, I left the nice town of Haworth with a very bad taste in my mouth. I was leaving the next day so there was not much I could do about this whole matter.

It is not clear whether this is a local authority car park or a private car park but they absolutely depend on tourists in the area. I suggest you write to the clerk of the Parish Council and set out your experience and your objections. It is not easy for them to know how staff behave unless the public tell them. You may not get a refund but it is worth a try.

Here is the contact information.

http://www.bradford.gov.uk/asp/counc...arish.asp?id=8

Your warning is very helpful for others.

I don't know who runs the Haworth Village website but there is no information on parking at all. http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/

Thank you for the contact info. I thought immediately that someone on the town council needed to know but with a flight to make the next morning, I couldn't stay to resolve it. Another blog reveals that this particular man's tactic is to clamp cars on the weekend, late in the day, which is what happened to us.

Tripadvisor also has some threads on this:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...e_England.html

The car park owner is quite a local and national celebrity:
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.u...turns_TV_star/

You could reinforce the point by complaining to Bradford Council
via
http://www.bradford.gov.uk/contact_u...s_compliments/

They might be interested to hear what a bad impression this man makes on tourists.

Wow, wish I had seen the Tripadvisor posts before my trip.
Thanks for all the moral support here. This won't get me down! I'll be traveling again soon.

If he wasn't displaying a properly visible sign, there might be grounds for some sort of legal claim, but no doubt it would be a "he said, she said" situation, and not easy to pursue at a distance. Could be worth a complaint to the local Trading Standards Office, though.

I was going to say what Patrick said.

It is out of control. I believe some new law is being drafted.



http://www.channel4.com/news/article...olapos/3316662

You might also consider writing tot he local paper, giving the name of the company and saying how you would have spent the money in local shops had you not been clamped.

I think the intimidation is illegal - but not easy to do anything about it now.

Sorry this happened and good that you have warned others.

I always wondered if you called a tow truck and had your car towed away, would the clamper want to take his clamp off before it was towed or you could take it to a garage and have it cut off.

You can't cut off a clamp - it's criminal damage.

You can't cut off a clamp - it's criminal damage.>>>

And is NEVER persued. Plod hate clampers as much as anyone else. We just tell them to put it down as a business expense.

Just don't tell 'em I told you this.

"And is NEVER persued."

I'm sure that's true in the Met - where the poliss, for all its many faults, are sort of sensible and aren't short of other ways of finding things they can rack up as overtime.

But some other constabularies (North Wales springs to mind) do have a tendency to pursue cases to a point of insanity - even when it's completely against their interests to do so.

I'd make sure my local constabules shared CW's attitude to clamperscum before getting out the hacksaw.

I followed a link from the bottom of the article Alec refers to and Mr Evans who used to run this business says he has been hit by rogue clampers who have been clamping his customers.

A tow truck to remove the clamp would cost more than paying this fine, whether it is legal or not.

This place only has a parish council you would be hard pressed to find a policeman. Heartbeat is fictional.

No it is not out of control it may be a crazy law and a cause of much frustration within the UK it is what happens when a government tries to control every aspect of our lives. UK may be a great place to visit and actually a very pleasant place to live in but our gov. only soultion to a problem is to enact a law and hence we have loads of them drafted very badly.

Watch out for where you park, Brits do, and even avoid areas where controls are too tight

These people are filthy scum that feed off the misery of others.

Bit like traffic wardens and speed camera operators (AKA local constabulary)

The sooner this useless government outlaws these scum clampers the better.

Bolt cutters people. Bolt cutters.

The worst that can happen is you offer to pay for the damage. A padlock is about a tenner. End of.

simples.

If you seriously think that plod (apart from that nutter in North Wales who hates cars) are going to do a thing about it you're dreaming. We don't investigate proper crimes for God's sake.

Just make sure you don't threaten or swear at the operative - cos then it does get busy quickly.

CW - grabbed one by the throat and decked one once. Not wise at a professional level but very satisfying nonetheless (Don't do this. Really. Don't do this.)

"We don't investigate proper crimes for God's sake."

No. But persecuting decent honest civilians for crimes that are in the public interest gets the right stats for the assessments a bloody sight easier than dealing with GBHs in Peckham.

I see there's a TV program about Ted Evans on C4 on Friday @ 7:35pm called "The Yorkshire Clamper".

Here's a review of the programme
http://tinyurl.com/kr272d

The OP will love the following:
"While poor Tony's out in the cold, being shouted at, Ted sits back in his lovely house, or cruises town in his vintage Rolls-Royce, counting the gold as it comes in. He seems put out, surprised even, that everyone hates him."

You might even be able to watch the programme online (since it's a commercial channel, I assume there's not the restrictions the BBC have on their iPlayer, but I may be wrong):

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/f...s-20/episode-1

Unfortunately not Patrick - you can only access the C4 programme from the UK. I did try, having been born in Yorkshire I understand the lingo and love the scenery.

Mucky, my Dad used to be a Traffic Warden in Shipley and Bingley, if he handed out a ticket a day he thought he was doing a bad job. Two reasonably quiet towns and he figured that he was employed to keep traffic moving and to warn people where NOT to park, he spent most of his time saying "If you park there I'm going to have to have you a ticket, park round the corner/over the road/in that car park and you have 30 minutes". Most drivers took the warning as a friendly gesture and moved their cars.

When he died the crematorium was packed, a lot of shopkeepers from the two towns who he'd built a good working relationship with over 15 years. He once worked a week in Bradford and the TW's were filling out as much of the forms that they could before they even left the police station and had a daily quota to fill, he only worked there once :) He was a quiet, gentle, thoughtful man who hated confrontation so Bradford was not the best place for him to work in.

BTW - my Mum worked at the Tax Office :D

Traffic Wardens used to be employed by the police. They never had targets and as the name suggest were designed to warden traffic - ie keep it moving etc. They also worked in the local nick and as such got a feel for the streets.

Now (with a few exceptions) they are called "Parking Attendants" and are employed by the local council who keep all the lolly they raise. Needless to say; nowadays they have targets and are answerable to no one other than their guvnors.

We have some good news regarding the "clamping incident." My husband sent out emails to the links recommended here and one to the company that clamped my car. I was too upset to write. He briefly stated what happened, that he was personally offended by the treatment I had received, and wanted a complete refund of our money. He also stated that we would be warning other travelers and writing to travel magazines,online blogs, etc. Today our account was credited with the money. We have yet to receive an email from anyone but are very happy, of course, to have the money back. I am still hoping that this can be outlawed in England. Alya,your Dad sounds like such a wonderful man. On my travels I've met a lot of nice, helpful people. Locals usually point out free and safe places to park. I think that's why this was such a shock to me since I had never heard of this practice.
Thank you all again for your support and suggestions.

That's really good news, OP, and I'm glad you got your money back, which seems only right considering you were legally parked and hadn't done anything wrong.

There is another side to the clamping debate though - and that is that these huge penalties exist as a deterrant, because sadly, polite notices and smaller penalties or fees are ignored.

I have written before about the residents car park I use - privately funded (no council money/maintenance involved), which is frequently used by the public in contravention of no less than 5 signs stating 'private' at the entrance to and inside the car park.

We have people using it as long term parking for the airport, driving schools (BSM, AA, Benson, Reed + a load of smaller private firms) using it for lessons, the canoe club, the fishing club and anyone walking their dog or going for a country hike, parking there on a daily basis.

It has been used for parking for weddings, and today, as I write, is being used as parking for some bloke who lives round the corner's 70th birthday party. The party organisers have kindly put up signs and balloons directing visitors to our carpark(!), and have three teenagers stationed outside (right by the 'private car park' sign) directing to people to spaces! Residents who've been out all day now have nowhere to park. We don't have clamping and never have done, but if someone suggested implementing it, I'd have no objections whatsoever.

Erroneous or overzealous use of clamping or fines I don't support - but neither do I think they should be banned altogether.

RM67

We have relatives that live in Windsor with residents parking but the number of residents cars outnumber the spaces available. They only have one car and are in their 80's but generally can't find a space on their street.

I just don't understand how that works! Shouldn't it be one space per household? Not that you'd always be able to park outside your own house but at least on the street you live on.

In your case? I'd have bought a few cans of aftershave and written on the cars something easy like PRIVATE PARKING! but 'm feeling a little evil today :)

Don't put aftershave on cars. It damages the paint (unless that's what you want to do in which case use brake fluid).

It's a crime. Like punching nonces. But even so.

"We have relatives that live in Windsor with residents parking but the number of residents cars outnumber the spaces available. They only have one car and are in their 80's but generally can't find a space on their street.

I just don't understand how that works! Shouldn't it be one space per household? "

While I agree with you in principle, the fact is that most couples will have a car each, and teenage children may have a car too. I don't know how many permits Windsor and Maidenhead issues, but in my own local authority, up to two permits may be issued per household, plus some of the houses may have been divided into flats (apartments), so there will be more than one household per building. The permits will normally be valid for a parking zone or area, not just that one street, so some cars parked there may be from houses around the corner.

"Don't put aftershave on cars. It damages the paint (unless that's what you want to do in which case use brake fluid)."

Well! Isn't it amazing what you learn? I have obliviously lead a very sheltered life since it didn't occur to me that shaving foam would cause damage - what about Silly String? although that would be hard to write with and I'd certainly want to send a message.

I'll bear in mind the comment about brake fluid being more effective. :)

Shaving foam contains a substance to soften hair. That's corrosive.

Paste a notice on the windscreen on the drivers side so they will have to waste time removing it before driving off. It may discourage them from parking there again.

You can be kind and use something light or be like my late mother and cook wallpaper type paste which is much harder to remove but does not damage the glass. We used to live in a Mews and people don't seem to think that parking across your front door is a nuisance, as well as blocking your one means of exit and escape.