Pals land £730 clamping bill

A night out wound up costing two Wolverhampton friends nearly £730 after they returned to find one of their cars had been clamped and the other impounded.

RAF Corporal Wayne Smith and bus driver Ian Wootton had parked their cars in the same city centre bays many times before without having to pay a penny. But they failed to see that a new sign had been pinned high up on a wall warning that the spot at the end of a cul-de-sac was now out of bounds and was being patrolled by clampers.

By the time they returned from their night out in Birmingham five-and-a-half hours later, 40-year-old Ian's Corsa had been clamped and Wayne's Nissan Primera had been towed away to a pound just 15 minutes earlier.

They rang the clamping company immediately at 10.30pm only to be told it was too late to recover the vehicles before the next morning.

By that time Wayne's bill was £402. This included a £150 clamping release fee, a £175 towing charge and £40-a-day over two days for his car to be kept at the Birmingham pound.

Ian was charged £325 as his vehicle had not been taken away, although he still had to pay a tow fee because the clampers insisted a pick-up truck was already on its way.

Wayne, from Goldthorn Hill, said: "We were horrified by the size of the bill, particularly as we had parked there many times before without charge."

The men had left their cars in two of five marked bays on land at the end of London Place, behind Market Square, last Thursday.

The plot is at the rear of Harmi Travels which has the right to use two of the spaces.

Mina Patel, from the travel company based in Worcester Street, said they had not called in the clampers. Other businesses in the area said a private landlord who owns part of the plot was responsible.

Two signs went up late last month warning the spaces were now a 'permit holders only zone' and giving details of the clamping charges.

On-street parking on certain parts of London Place is set to become pay and display this week between 8.30am and 6pm Monday to Saturday for no more than two hours.