Quick-thinking drivers are getting out of hefty clamping fines outside a Black Country travel agents – by booking a holiday instead.

Motorists clamped within minutes of leaving their cars outside First Choice Holiday Hypermarket in Walsall are choosing to pay for cut-price weekend breaks rather than a £150 penalty for non-customers. Gary Adams, aged 38, booked a night in a £90-a-room London hotel for him and his girlfriend next month instead of handing cash to the clampers.

“I was determined not to pay them a penny,” he said.

“We’ve been meaning to go to London for a while now, so now we’re excited instead of being really annoyed.

“Another guy who got clamped on the same day did it too.”

Clampers have been in operation for three years at the car park in Wolverhampton Street, after shoppers going to Crown Wharf opposite clogged up spaces.

Mr Adams, who lives in Harborne, Birmingham, with girlfriend Anita Smith, pulled onto the car park last Saturday because Crown Wharf was full. “We only intended being there a few minutes because we only needed to buy one thing,” he said. “We saw the signs warning of clamping but we were in a rush and didn’t think they’d get us so soon.”

But when the couple returned 20 minutes later, a triangular clamp was gripping one of the wheels of their Audi A3. “A guy came over straightaway,” said Mr Adams, who works for electricity company E-on.

“He’d been sitting in a white van, so it was obvious he’d been watching us. He said it would cost us £150 to have it removed and didn’t want to listen to excuses.

“We went inside the travel agent, and I told them I’d rather give them my money than him. At first, they offered us a European city break for £1,000 but I said I wanted something less than the fine, so we’re off to London for a night next May.

“When we came out, we showed the guy our receipt and he removed the clamp straight away. While we’d been in there, three more cars had been clamped, and the drivers were giving out their credit card details.”

Clamping firm Elite Parking Control today said it was in consultation with the site landowner over the issue.

First Choice said it was also looking into the matter.