Terror as clampers hold girl 'hostage'

Dec 20 2007

GREEDY clampers have hit a new low by making Birmingham student Nicola Platts a prisoner in her own car after she mistakenly parked in an 'illegal' bay.

Nicola, from Great Barr, claims her exit route was blocked by a van driver who forced her to stay until his colleagues arrived.

When they eventually turned up, she was ordered to hand over £150 in cash.

The clampers warned that if she didn't pay up immediately, her car would be towed away and her fine increased to £400.

"It was so intimidating, I felt like I was being taken hostage," said Nicola, who is studying at the College of Food in the city centre.

"The irony is that I only stopped there in the first place because I needed some money to pay for parking. I work part-time in town at Malmaison and use the meters nearby.

"I pulled over at the Shell garage on Bath Row near Five Ways to use the cashpoint, then popped into the shop to get change.

"It only took a couple of minutes, but when I got back to my car, I saw I was blocked in by a van. I asked the driver what was going on and he told me he was keeping me there until the clampers arrived.

"I was going frantic because I didn'Õt want to be late for work, but he said the clampers would come in their own good time and I would just have to wait.

"Until they arrived, my car was going nowhere and neither was I. When I called the police, they said they couldn't help me."

To add to Nicola's fears, the man who detained her wasn't wearing a visible identity card from the Security Industries Association, which is a legal requirement.

When the two clampers turned up, they marched her to the cashpoint and made her pay the full amount there and then.

"I said I couldn't afford that much money because I'm a student. They all gathered around me until I began to cry with fear.

"One said he didn't care what I was, I had to pay up or else. I felt scared, frightened, and intimidated."

When we contacted Midway Parks, based in Bordesley Green, which operates the clamping service, they defended their actions saying it's entirely legal to block in a car to make sure a wrongly parked driver can't leave.

They denied that Nicola had been forced to wait for the clampers, but admitted that SIA badges worn by staff might not have been visible "because it's been freezing cold lately and they've got big coats on."

Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood was shocked when he heard the details of Nicola's story and pledged to raise the issue in parliament early next year.

"It's illegal to keep someone prisoner like that," he said - but amazingly he's wrong.

The Securities Industries Association has confirmed that it authorises clampers to immobilise cars "by any means necessary", including blocking them in.

Mahmood has now promised to try to get the law changed and restrict the powers of clampers.

"I'm going to ask for a debate in parliament about this. It's ridiculous that car clamping can be illegal in Scotland but we tolerate it in England.

"If somebody parks badly, putting a ticket on their windscreen with a small fine should be enough.

"Clamping is money for old rope and this kind of behaviour shouldn't be allowed."