Commuters face clamping misery

Traders say the clampers are putting the squeeze on business

Scores of motorists had their cars clamped on Friday night.

The clampers moved in to immobilise about 100 cars after drivers ignored repeated warnings not to use the car park at the Stevenage Leisure Park in Hertfordshire.

The car park is directly next to Stevenage Railway Station and every morning hundreds of commuters illegally park there free of charge.

The release fee is £90 a vehicle on the spot, £110 if it is towed away and £35 for each day in storage.

They have had plenty of warning of it yet people still haven't got the message Complex manager Warren Blanchfield

Maria Row, 59, arrived in the car park to find her Renault had been clamped.

"Normally I park in the railway station car park and pay my £3, but I couldn't find anywhere to park this morning and came here.

"But where are the signs saying you shouldn't park here? They are about but you have to look twice," she said.

Jacqueline Turner, of Stevenage, said her son called her from London asking her to check if he had been clamped.

"Daniel had received a call at his office from a friend who had heard about the clamping," she said.

"His car had been clamped and I've just had to fork out £90."

Leisure centre manager Warren Blanchfield said they were taking the action very reluctantly.

"It has been forced upon us. Nobody benefits from this apart from the clampers.

Leaflets on cars

"They have had plenty of warning of it yet people still haven't got the message.

"This week we have put leaflets out on cars and put signs up and they have still ignored it," he said.

Commuter parking began to be a problem at the complex two years ago, when around 50 cars were being left.

Since then that figure had risen to about 600 cars a day.

A spokesman for Hertfordshire Police said they were aware of the situation.