The stereotype of the disrespectful, power-abusing traffic warden is well known to members of the British motoring public. However, the illegal behaviour of a group of Worcestershire wheel clampers would have been enough to place most drivers into a state of temporary shock.

Apparently, the crooks deliberately targeted and acted aggressively towards vehicle owners who they deemed to be vulnerable. Both elderly and female drivers were hit with extortionate parking fines of up to £335.

A driver from Malvern said, “I felt that if the clampers had held a gun to my head and taken the money I couldn't have felt any worse. I felt angry, traumatised and emotional. I felt I had been robbed.”

There was some solace for the victims of the car park crime, as each of the clampers was sent to jail for between 12 and 32 months. The relief that the prosecution must have felt upon the issuing of these sentences can only be imagined.

The judge said, “What of course is wholly wrong is the use of enforcement measures to provide a service to help traders and others suffering from illegally parked cars, but to use the company as a vehicle to obtain money dishonestly from the public by blatant use of authority and power.”

Those people who are interested in the laws of motoring will now be waiting to see what happens in the case of potentially fraudulent whiplash claims, which have been the focus of media attention recently.

Labels: car park, claims, clampers, crime, drivers, illegal, motoring, parking fines, traffic warden, vehicle owners, wheel, whiplash