£7k bill to release car

A former car clamper who has admitted blackmailing motorists told jurors that one man paid £7,000 to get his vehicle back.

Kamran Khan said a Jeep was clamped on the LA Rock car park in Cannock, towed away and stored on a farm for several weeks before the owner reclaimed it.

Giving evidence in the trial of the boss of a car clamping company accused of conspiracy to blackmail, Khan told Stafford Crown Court yesterday that he was ordered to clamp the vehicle of an elderly man who had been to visit his wife's grave.

The prosecution allege the clamping operation by Rowencroft Immobilisers, run by Rebecca Meakin, was "a scam" and that motorists using private car parks in Rugeley, Cannock and Worcester were "blackmailed" into handing over up to £295 to get their cars released. If drivers didn't pay, their vehicles were towed away and left at derelict industrial units or similar unsecured sites.

Meakin, pictured, aged 27, of Millers Vale, Heath Hayes, denies a charge of conspiracy to blackmail.

Khan, 28, of Marsh Lane, Birmingham, who has admitted conspiracy to blackmail, told the jury he was taken on by Rowencroft in the early part of 2006 and worked for them up until his arrest in May that year.

He said he took instructions from Meakin.

Khan said one man at LA Rock had his Jeep clamped. He was asked for £95 to release it, but he refused to pay, so it was towed away.

"It was three or four weeks later when the vehicle was returned to him. He paid in cash, about £7,000."

The widower who had been visiting his wife's grave started crying when he realised he had been clamped, he added.

The trial continues.