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Lewes: Fury at car boot clamping
10:57am Monday 16th June 2008
Comments (37)There was outrage at a car boot sale when clampers swooped on Sunday morning bargain hunters.
Tyres on the clamping company's van were slashed as tempers flared and police were called.
An MP tried to act as peacemaker as "mob rule" threatened to spiral out of control.
But Guardian Parking Management, which said it clamped ten cars, refused to back down and drivers, some of them pensioners, were forced to pay £120 to get their cars back.
They were targeted after parking at Eastgate Wharf, off Eastgate Street, Lewes, which became a clamping zone last Monday.
Lewes MP Norman Baker, who was browsing nearby stalls, said the row highlighted the need for greater scrutiny of the way clampers operated and the fines they charged.
He said: "People went to a boot sale looking for a bargain and came away with £120 fines. This is a huge amount of money. There are some who simply can't afford to pay.
"There is an issue about parking here and access for emergency vehicles and lorries unloading, but dealing with it through clamping being suddenly introduced is not the right way to go about it. There is a need to have a greater say over private parking companies - both the amount they charge and the way some of them operate."
Victims said they had parked on the land for years without problems and hadn't noticed warning signs put up last week.
Peter Welch, 72, of the Landport estate, Lewes, said: "I just popped into the car boot sale for ten minutes.
As I was putting the stuff I'd bought in the car the man was clamping it.
"I asked him whether he was allowed to do that while I was there and he said nobody had been with the car when he arrived.
"We're on a pension and we can't afford it. We'll have to go without this week."
Lesley Afzali, 69, from Tarring Neville, said: "I just don't have that money because I'm a pensioner.
"They shouldn't be allowed to charge more than a week's pension."
Some motorists complained they had not seen the signs, which were positioned above head height.
Linda Palmer, 59, from Newhaven, had a blue badge on her dashboard as her husband is disabled.
She said: "It's been chaos here. We've stopped so many other people from getting clamped this morning because everyone's been used to parking here for years. There are a lot of very very angry people."
Mrs Palmer said up to 20 cars may have been clamped but Mark Lynch, director of Guardian, said only ten were immobilised and two owners were not charged.
He said: "One was released free because they had a blue badge which they had failed to display, and the other took the clamp off themselves. We were requested to carry out the clamping by the property management agent we work for.
"While our immobilisers were on site people still kept coming in and parking despite our warning boards, vehicles and guys in uniform.
The police came out and were confident everything was OK. But then mob rule took over and people decided to slash our tyres."
Police said they had told Mr Baker that what the clamping company had done was perfectly lawful.
Your Say YourThe Argus
graham, hove says...
11:21am Mon 16 Jun 08
credit card company and stop the charge.
nope. the CC company will ask you why you want to stop the payment. They are obligated to make the payment as soon as you provide the company with your card details, unless you have a mighty fine reason to have it stopped, otherwise you'll be done for CC fraud.
The CC will ask you to take up the civil case if you disagree with the payment.
sorry ec, you're wrong, as much as I'd like to do what you've suggested!
Gino, Portslade says...
11:56am Mon 16 Jun 08
Vince, Hove says...
12:28pm Mon 16 Jun 08
local, lewes says...
12:32pm Mon 16 Jun 08
ec, Brighton says...
12:45pm Mon 16 Jun 08
sarah, crawley says...
12:53pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Micheal, lewes says...
12:59pm Mon 16 Jun 08
by a greedy,deceptive clamping company trying desperately to avoid paying a
£120 fine. A fine that will cause them to go without food and electricity for two
weeks. It nice to see the Argus championing the peoples cause as usual.
I hope your readership solely consists of car clampers and policemen because
am sure all the pensioners here will fell sufficiently incensed not to entertain your
biased reporting with what is left of their pensions. Please check out 'Mark Lynch of
Guardian Security' a simple google search will bring up so revealing facts about this man.
tom, bri says...
1:00pm Mon 16 Jun 08
"They shouldn't be allowed to charge more than a week's pension."
Excellent idea! I'd like all fines in life to be made easily affordable in relation to my disposable income so I can pick and choose what and where I adhere to advertised parking restrictions.
local, lewes says...
1:06pm Mon 16 Jun 08
No, Way says...
1:39pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Is there was already an issue that was on going, then it was "suddenly" a clamping area. I bet people had already been asked nicely in the past to move along and stop blocking the road, but never listened. So the clampers were brought in as a "last resort" to stop people parking in stupid places.
Easiest way to avoid a fine? DON'T PARK WHERE YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO!
Under the bridge, Lewes says...
1:42pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Think about it, at work says...
1:49pm Mon 16 Jun 08
£120 fine. A fine that will cause them to go without food and electricity for two weeks."
Oh come off it! If they're so poor how do they afford to run their cars? £120 will only fill a car with fuel three times.
I hate clampers, but car owning, Lewes residing OAPs are not my definition of pensioners on the breadline, and this sort of ridiculous hyperbole doesn't do their argument any favours.
The issue here is the law, and its application. Just because the car owners in this case are old is totally irrelevant.
Freeholder, Brighton says...
1:58pm Mon 16 Jun 08
For me the advantage is I can park on my land whenever I want and don't have try and find the owners of the cars blocking my land.
I am sorry for the pensioners but if idiots didn't keep parking wherever they felt like parking and ignoring all signage to save a few minutes or a few pence then Guardian wouldn't be in business.
Its not just private land that there are problems, I see people parking on double yellows blocking drop kerbs for prams and wheelchairs all the time, people double parking blocking roads, business men in 4x4 with blue badges that are obviously fake and because it is on public property they get away with it.
Just because you don't have to deal with the idiots from a freeholder's point of view don't victimise those that do as Guardian solve a lot more problems for decent people than they cause.
Micheal, lewes says...
2:11pm Mon 16 Jun 08
vehicles were in the area to deal with the volume at the same time is all the evidence any person would need to understand that this is entrapment.
I personally heard them say they had clamped about 16 cars.
Lewes council were authorised to allow clamping because they said it would be used in only the most extreme cases. "16 cars in half an hour."
Some people really are poor we should be supporting them.
Mike Melbourne, says...
2:18pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Hyacinth, Lewes says...
2:37pm Mon 16 Jun 08
I think you have missed the point. They didn't know they were not supposed to park there because no one was informed. It is a car park that has been used for years. And now there has been a change of use / terms of use the only thing that is fair to do is give due notice. Apparently the notices had only been put up the sunday night before. If you saw the sign or knew you were going to be charged £120 would you park there for the sheer hell of it? I think the issue here is giving locals (who have been frequenting the carboot for years)due notice. If they don't know there has been a change who does? Oh yes, the clampers who sat in their cars waiting for the individuals to turn up one by one over a three hour period then asking for the £120 release fee. If they had spent the time waiving people away then it would be forgivable. The fact they used that time to sit and bait everyone is what leaves everyone with a bad taste.
Disgusted, Brighton says...
2:37pm Mon 16 Jun 08
People going about there business return to their vehicle and find they have to spend a three figure sum to mobilise it!
How awful Now the clampers know how their victims feel!
The charge is totally out of proportion to the 'crime'
Lets all get down there next week and clamp their van All we need to do is put a couple of signs up!
Lewes Resident, Lewes says...
3:10pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Aggrieved, Lewes says...
3:10pm Mon 16 Jun 08
The Argus report about "Mob Rule" is nearly as outrageous as the deceptive way the clampers went about their business.
People have parked in the car park and nearby spaces for many many years without any problem. It appears that a company called "Chevel" has purchased six units in the High Street - the purchase includes ownership of the car park (outside Laura Ashley's) and the ajoining road. I feel that it would have been fair and reasonable for the owner to publicise his intentions before employing this heavy handed approach. Perhaps placing a letter in the local paper or by distributing leaflets in the vicinity. Signs were apparently erected at 10.30pm on Friday evening and erected way above normal visual range.
Norman Baker was very sympathetic to those involved but his negotiations with the landowner were not fruitful. I shall now strive to cause "Chevel" the same amount of inconvienience.
df, Uckfield says...
3:26pm Mon 16 Jun 08
tony, west sussex says...
4:42pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Thats what I'm talking about, says...
4:45pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Jim Davies, Brighton says...
5:10pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Why is it that some peopole don't get it, if you park legally, you won't clamped - clamping company/traffic warden whatever - it is really that simple.
Sue, Hove says...
5:31pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Violence towards the clampers or their vehicles is a criminal offence. When will moptorists obey the law?
will Maughan, Lewes says...
6:34pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Mike Melbourne wrote:The same people that regulate the doorman have regulated the Clamping industry for 2 years now, I was there sunday and everyone i heard speaking that had been clamped was saying that they had seen the signs but had been parking there for years and didnt think it would apply to them.
The average Police Officer knows very little about the laws on clamping and will always say that it is a civil matter and often back the clampers.Clamping is often done by the type of person that used to do the job on dodgy club and pub doors before some regulation happened on who could do that.
They also kept banging on about a show of good will by the clampers of letting them go for free, then cut the tyres of the clampers and stood there verbally abusing them.
It was a joke and it was typical that they felt like victims, as for the fact that the two clamping vans sat there while more people came and parked in the area whilst they were applying clamps well that says it all what sort of idiot would do that then moan abou the fine.!
The clampers were polite that i saw and tried to explain everything to anyone that asked dispite the verbal abuse.
There was more than enough signs at a suitable hight if they were ignored its not there fault!
Kickboxer, Worthing says...
6:41pm Mon 16 Jun 08
John B, says...
7:44pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Free parking around the corner and people are still too lazy to walk all of 100 yards.
Zolabud., Lewes says...
8:01pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Phil, says...
8:36pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Hadly Clamp, Worthing says...
10:09pm Mon 16 Jun 08
Disgusted wrote:Actually NO you will go to prison if you clamp without a licence.
WOW People going about there business return to their vehicle and find they have to spend a three figure sum to mobilise it! How awful Now the clampers know how their victims feel! The charge is totally out of proportion to the 'crime' Lets all get down there next week and clamp their van All we need to do is put a couple of signs up!
The problem here is that when ever you park anywhere you need to read any signs, the worst are the premises that give a time limit. Often they do not clap you instead they buy your address details from the DVLA (yes that is exactly what they do) then send you a charge of often over £150.
They all get away with poor signage that is often placed where people can not see. It is outrageous that they have not been forced to limit their charges and many are run by people that have been to prison for violent crimes. Its a real money spinner for the get rich quick.
Moral to my rambling is READ THE SIGNS WHERE EVER YOU PARK!!!!! They will be obscure but you need to look for them high up or in a corner. they are never at the entrance as that would be too easy to read.
boris, lewes says...
5:07am Tue 17 Jun 08
mick, worthing says...
6:42am Tue 17 Jun 08
Shocked & Amazed, Lewes says...
9:47am Tue 17 Jun 08
1. This hit was purposely planned to occur early on a Sunday morning (coincides with an established boot fair).
2. Any anger should be directed towards the owner of the land who employed this underhand tactic. Ill await clarification of who owns this land but most seem to feel it is Michael Rees and/or Martin Elliott (short of cash property developers/wideboys)
.
Lord Larry, Worthing says...
8:58pm Thu 19 Jun 08
Hadly Clamp wrote:i AGREE BUT THESE GUY'S ARE PROB WATER TIGHT AS FAR AS THE LAW STANDS. Basically you have to read the signs that may be sited anywhere on private land, you can not take it for granted that you can park. The only thing is that the clampers must be licenced other wise its a jailable offence to clamp your car.
Disgusted wrote: WOW People going about there business return to their vehicle and find they have to spend a three figure sum to mobilise it! How awful Now the clampers know how their victims feel! The charge is totally out of proportion to the 'crime' Lets all get down there next week and clamp their van All we need to do is put a couple of signs up!Actually NO you will go to prison if you clamp without a licence. The problem here is that when ever you park anywhere you need to read any signs, the worst are the premises that give a time limit. Often they do not clap you instead they buy your address details from the DVLA (yes that is exactly what they do) then send you a charge of often over £150. They all get away with poor signage that is often placed where people can not see. It is outrageous that they have not been forced to limit their charges and many are run by people that have been to prison for violent crimes. Its a real money spinner for the get rich quick. Moral to my rambling is READ THE SIGNS WHERE EVER YOU PARK!!!!! They will be obscure but you need to look for them high up or in a corner. they are never at the entrance as that would be too easy to read.
albert hall, brighton says...
10:20pm Sat 21 Jun 08
Richard Ruzyllo, Lewes says...
4:39pm Mon 23 Jun 08
Police talk to one of the Sunday morning bargain hunters in Lewes after 'mob rule' broke out
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ec, Brighton says...
11:17am Mon 16 Jun 08