York | Archive | 2000 | February | 5
From the Evening Press, first published Saturday 5th Feb 2000.
The clamping horror stories recounted by Harrogate MP Phil Willis are all too common. More and more unscrupulous operators are realising that wheel clamping is an easy way to make a killing.
Mr Willis described to the Commons how they prowl the streets searching for prey and profit. Any motorist, however young or old, however vulnerable, is a target.
According to the MP, one clamper threatened to hold a three-year-old girl hostage until her mother paid the release fine, another asked a woman driver for sex in lieu of payment. The reason these bullies get away with such behaviour is because they appear to function above the law.
The clampers' reign of terror began in London, where certain motorists openly flout parking regulations and ignore tickets. In these circumstances, the heavy-handed tactic of clamping might possibly be justified.
But now they have brought chaos elsewhere, including Mr Willis's own Harrogate constituency. They have yet to wreak havoc in York. We hope that the city council's plan to get tough on illegal parking does not offer these cowboys the opportunity they have been waiting for.
Motorists who ignore parking restrictions deserve to pay the penalty. But, in most cases, a ticket and a fine is adequate.
Leaving drivers to the mercy of these cowboys only causes more problems on our roads. Mr Willis is right to suggest that the motorist is not adequately protected. It is time to clamp down on the clampers.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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