WHEN a Hampshire woman popped out for a quick Christmas drink little did she realise it would end up costing her nearly £100.

Sarah Gibbons parked her car and went off to meet a friend in a Southampton city centre bar for one hour but when she returned her car had been clamped.

It was only when the clampers pointed out a tiny sign situated nearly 20 feet up the side of the adjacent building, banning unauthorised parking, that she realised she could not park there.

It cost her £95 and three hours to get the car unclamped.

Now the head of roads and transport policy at Britain's leading motoring organisation believes Miss Gibbons may have a small claims case.

Miss Gibbons, 31, said: "This really is entrapment. The parking spaces were freshly painted and you cannot see any sign in the dark when it's high up the side of a building. Where is the Christmas cheer?"

Around 7pm the civil servant from Bitterne Manor had pulled into the eight-bay mini car park off Salisbury Street behind London Road because all the other spaces around the popular drinking area were full.

Although metered parking in the area finishes at 5.30pm the small car park next to Salisbury House is controlled by Security International Group, one of the south's largest private parking enforcement companies. The company continues its restrictions through the night.

SIG, which operates the clamping policy on behalf of a client it was not prepared to name, defended the positioning of the sign.

Managing director Clive Deacon said: "We have had difficulty in that location with a number of signs pulled down by motorists.

"We don't put the sign there so that people don't see it. But whenever we have put it down at eye level it gets ripped down.

He added: "We use black writing on a white background.

"If we tried to illuminate it the problem would be getting a power supply up there and the danger of electric shocks if someone went to pull it down.

"There are a lot of clamping signs around there. If she had taken care when she parked she would have seen the warning sign."

Paul Watters, the head of the AA's roads and transport policy, said: "The boundary between public and private land should be clearly defined and clamping signs should be clearly lit and unobstructed.

"Twenty feet up the side of a building is not good - especially at night. If they cannot sign it properly they should not be clamping.

"Security International do have an appeals process and I would urge her to get in touch with them."

At present any private security company can enforce parking restrictions on behalf of a client as long as it is clearly signed.

But the 2001 Private Security Industry Act means that after December 2003, companies will have to be licensed to legally enforce parking restraints.

Chartered surveyors Holland Mitchell, who look after Salisbury House on behalf of its London-based owners, said the car park was for the sole use of tenants of the building.