With regard to recent stories about clamping (The Argus, March 21), a couple of years ago, after receiving a transplanted kidney from my then fiancee, we drove from Uckfield to Brighton to buy some wedding shoes.

We had a disabled badge entitling us to park for three hours on double yellow lines, which we did in what is now called North Laine.

After purchasing the shoes, we returned to find the car had been towed away. My weak and very distressed fiancee was obliged to take the bus to Uckfield, while I first had to go to John Street police station to pay £128, then go to some godforsaken place in the wilds of Shoreham Harbour to retrieve the car.

We wrote a letter of complaint but were told the disabled badge was not visible. When I retrieved the car, both the badge and clock card were on the floor, which is logical when you take into account that in order to put a car on a recovery lorry, the nose of the car has to be elevated, thus causing anything on the dashboard to fall.

Those wedding shoes ended up costing almost £200 and I was reluctant to drive in Brighton for a very long time.

Jonathan Mitchell
Hythe Road, Brighton