A CAR clamping firm has been branded “greedy and immoral”
for charging motorists hundreds of pounds then threatening a £50 rudeness fine.
Hampshire-based Whites Car Solutions is charging people as much as £450 for parking in the wrong place, the Daily Echo can reveal.
Motorists have accused the company of calling in a tow truck immediately after putting a clamp and £150 ticket on their cars – adding an extra £250 to the bill.
And if the payment demand provokes an abusive response the company claims it has the right to issue a £50 rudeness fine for “abusive or violent” behaviour.
Trading standards and rival firms admitted they weren’t even sure the on-the-spot fines were legal and warned it was open to “abuse”.
The clamping fees are double what councils are allowed to charge while tow companies contacted by the Daily Echo said they would haul a car across the city for between £50 and £100.
Clampers demanded £450 from Debbie Ludlam, 29, of Locks Heath, after she parked at the HiQ garage in Northam for 20 minutes to tend to a sick baby.
She realised that she had parked on private land and asked how she could go about paying the £150 ticket on her car windscreen to be told it would be three times that because a tow truck had been deployed.
She called the police and, in the end, a reduced amount of £275 was agreed.
As a community support officer for people with alcohol and drugs Debbie needs her car so reluctantly agreed to pay.
She said: “I think this is disgusting and grossly unfair. It obviously has nothing to do with preventing a person from parking on someone else’s land but is just a big money spinner for the greedy clampers.”
Mortgage manager Nick Carr, 26, of Bitterne, was charged £420 after parking on the same site.
He said: “I was running late for the Saints game and I missed most of the first half so I couldn’t have been gone for much more than an hour and when I came back I realised I had parked on private land and would have to pay about £100.
“I couldn’t believe it when they claimed it was going to be so much – I asked why they called a tow truck so quickly after clamping my car and they just shrugged and said they call it whenever they like.
“It is despicable they rip people off like this at a time when people are struggling. I have never heard of such a high fine and don’t think I’ll be able to afford Christmas presents now.”
Debbie and Nick said they didn’t see the signs and would have been happy to pay a reasonable fine once they realised they had parked on private land. Both have reported the company to trading standards.
In both accounts a tow truck did arrive to take their cars away but was turned back when they agreed to pay up.
Kierin Gurrie, a director at KMG security services, which manages 190 sites including NHS and prison car parks, said it generally towed as a last resort or if it was clear the motorist had ignored the clamp or was blocking an emergency access.
He blasted the rudeness fine as likely to aggravate an often volatile situation.
“It’s hard to interpret and very easy to abuse,” he said.
“Clamping operatives should be able to talk motorists down who are going to be upset without having to resort to a fine.”
He added: “The problem with smaller firms is they don’t have view of the image of the industry.
This doesn’t help.”
Southampton Trading Standards said it had received complaints about the clamping at HiQ but said the company was working within the laws of trespass.
It said it was for the courts to rule on the rudeness charge.
Clamping industry regulator the Security Industry Authority said it would be “inappropriate”
to comment because its job was to licence individuals not regulate company policies.
White Car Solutions, which is based in Southampton, and claims to be a “market leader” in its industry offering services across the south, said no-one was available for comment.
The manger of the HiQ garage, who declined to give his name, said he was told to employ clampers because parked cars were blocking access for out-of-hours breakdown work.
He said the charges were a matter for the clamping company, which was employed – on a three-month contract – because it was the closest.
Clamper badly beaten
THE Southampton wheel clamper who threatens to fine rude motorists £50 was brutally beaten after clamping another car earlier this year.
A gang of up to six men armed with metal bars launched a vicious attack on Jason White, pictured, after he demanded a £150 release fee from the owner of the car.
Mr White and a colleague, from Whites Car Park Solutions, were left in a pool of blood needing hospital treatment for facial injuries and bruising.
They managed to run off before the gang attacked their van with metal bars causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.
Armed police arrived just after the men had fled the scene. The owner’s dad turned up later to pay the fee.
Mr White told the Echo at the time: “I will try and be a bit safer in the future but you can't prevent this kind of attack."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel