Clamping & removal have been around for lots of years, though they were originally limited to busy town & city center. The Police were one times the only people with the power to remove illegally parked vehicles, but they used this power only to deal with vehicles that were parked dangerously or causing an obstruction. Clamping was sometimes used as a deterrent in places where illegal parking was seen as a particular problem.

It’s every motorist’s worst nightmare – you park your automobile for a few minutes, only to return to find it clamped or, even worse, towed away. As well as the delay & inconvenience, you will without a doubt be asked to pay a substantial fee as well.

All that changed with the arrival of decriminalized parking enforcement, however. This technique, first introduced in London in 1994, allowed local councils to take over the enforcement of parking regulations from the police. It’s no coincidence that, from then on, both clamping & removal have become far more common. For lots of councils, clamping Unlucky motorists with nowhere else to park provides a valuable boost to their finances. & Councils with (very expensive) removal trucks & equipment have every incentive to use them on anyone parked ‘illegally’ than letting them stand idle.

Private clampers operating on private land (e.g. pub or shop automobile parks) are an even more serious hazard for the driver. They are Unregulated, can charge any fee they like for releasing your vehicle, & will often only accept funds as payment. Although there’s been calls for action to regulate clamping on private land since 1993, as yet no action has been ceilings, & clamping is still seen by lots of less-than-savory operators as a license to print money.

A case in the Court of Appeal in April 2000 against the London Borough of Waltham Forest showed how this principle can work in a motorist’s favor. The plaintiff, Marina Vine, won her case because the judges accepted her argument that he had not seen signs indicating that unauthorized vehicles would be clamped. This case demonstrated that clampers must ensure that warning signs are prominent sufficiently to prove beyond doubt that motorists parking illegally have consented to the risk of clamping. If motorists say that they did not see the signs, the clampers can not basically say ‘tough’ & demand payment.

So what can you do to keep away from being held over a barrel in this way? Obviously, the best solution is to keep away from being clamped in the first place. However, if you are unfortunate to suffer this fate, there is three very lovely defenses you can use. The law says that, to be legally clamped, a driver must give his consent to this happening, otherwise the clamping is illegal. If there’s no warning signs to indicate this, therefore, or the signs are not sufficiently prominent, the clamping may not be enforceable.

Obviously magistrates would need a lovely reason for accepting that you had not consented to the risk of clamping – but if you have three, there is a very lovely possibility you can remove the clamps yourself & legally avoid paying the removal fee.

Exactly this same principle was applied by a driver called Peter Cartner in October 2002 to defend himself against an accusation of criminal destroys. Cartner used a Crowbar to remove one wheel clamps from his automobile which he had left in the automobile park of the Black Bull pub in Haworth, Yorkshire. There were signs stating that unauthorized vehicles would be clamped, but Cartner argued he did not believe they would apply to him, as he knew the Landlord. The magistrates accepted his argument that he did not think he was at risk, & therefore did not give his consent to being clamped. In fact, the Landlord Cartner knew had moved on, but Cartner said it was only after being clamped that he caught out about this.

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