The Lib Dems will tomorrow (Tuesday) in Parliament demand a change to the law and for all private sector wheel clamping to be banned. The call comes in the form of a New Clause, drafted by Lewes MP Norman Baker, and tabled to the Crime and Security Bill presently going through the Commons.
The move comes hard on the heels of the latest clamping outrage, this time in Newhaven, which occurred on 30th January. A local district nurse was attending a sick and elderly resident and had parked in a parking bay on private land adjacent to the patient's house.
When parking controls were brought in, the issue of visits by the nurse was raised and the clamping company agreed that short visits by the nurse would not attract a clamp. Yet just 7 minutes into her visit on the 30th January, a clamp had been installed. This is despite the fact that her nurse's badge was clearly visible in the windscreen.
The company refused to release the clamp without payment of £130 being made, payment the nurse herself had to make. The car was immobilised for two hours.
Now Norman Baker, also the Lib Dem Shadow Transport Secretary, has written to the company, Sussex Security Solutions Ltd., to demand a full refund and apology. And the incident will be highlighted by the Lib Dems tomorrow in the Commons to back their call for all private sector wheel clamping to be banned.
Norman Baker says: "This latest episode is yet further clear evidence why private sector wheel clamping needs to be totally banned. As long as there is a financial incentive to clamp, these sorts of outrageous incidents will continue to occur.
"We have too many clamping companies, and indeed individual clampers, who rely for their income totally on how many clamps they can put on vehicles. This modern day highway robbery must end."
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East Sussex,
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Fax: (01273) 480287.
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