"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.