A HEAVILY pregnant woman has been forced to pay out more than £500 after being targeted by clampers.

Lara Leija, 37, who is due to give birth in less than a month, claims signs in a car park where she left her silver Mercedes were obscured by trees and shrubs.

Her total bill came to £504 – a £180 release fee, a £300 charge for a tow truck plus a £24 surcharge for paying by debit card.

She is the latest victim of controversial clampers Whites Car Parking Solutions, who have provoked a flood of complaints to the Daily Echo from angry motorists.

Lara was so devastated after the incident in Oxford Street, Southampton, that her partner, Tim Wainwright, had to pick her up and call a midwife out to check her blood pressure.

She had left her parked in a car park while visiting a friend.

She said: “I didn’t see the signs because they were obscured by the bushes and shrubs but I still would have paid a clamp release fee, but this kind of money is just ridiculous.

“I got in the car and tried to call Tim but couldn’t get through and I got distressed and upset. I was just sobbing. I told them I couldn’t pay that much and they were just cold and numb and said I had to find the money.

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t clamp pregnant women but I think the way they behaved was abysmal and what they charge is disgusting.”

The former hairstylist said the money she was forced to hand over was from savings the pair had been keeping for a pushchair.

Previous victims of Southampton-based Whites Car Parking Solutions have included 89-yearold D-Day veteran Dennis Wilson, who had to pay out nearly £700 for parking in an alleyway in Shirley.

The highest bill the Daily Echo has heard of so far was the £714 demanded from trainee doctor Chris Airey, 29, whose car was clamped at Alexander Square, Eastleigh, while he was visiting his girlfriend. The bill mounted up because it was days before he was able to travel hundreds of miles to get the documents he needed to retrieve his vehicle.

Clamping on private land will be made illegal at the end of the year when the Freedom Bill becomes law.

Some motorists have voiced fears that clamping firms are going on sprees, trying to rake in as much cash as possible before they are banned.

Whites Car Parking Solutions boss Jason White was unavailable for comment.