Clamp 'removed' in parking vigil

Simone Avila said she was left scared and alone when clamped

A woman who slept in her car for two nights to protest at the vehicle being clamped returned from a short break in her vigil to find the device removed.

Simone Avila said she had slept in the Crompton Street car park in Derby at the weekend as she could not pay a £125 fine to remove the clamp.

And now a city councillor is calling for Asbos to be given to clamping operatives at the car park.

The clamping firm called police after the device was mysteriously removed.

Ms Avila, who had been joined by her husband in the car park protest, said she had stayed there to send a signal to the clampers and also because she could not afford the fine.

She said: "It was pitch black and I was alone, cold and scared and at one point I was in tears but he [the clamper] didn't care.

Regulation call

"On Sunday we were weakening but we decided to stick it out another night.

"It was partly the principle and partly that we don't have that money - we would have to borrow it."

She said she had left the car park temporarily on Monday night and later returned to her vehicle to find the clamp had been removed.

Clamping company CP Management said it did not remove the clamp. It has contacted police to report its theft.

The fines that are set have been set by case law, £125 is deemed as reasonable by the courts and that is why we charge that figure Matthew Rutherford CP Management

City councillor Chris Williamson said: "We've already written to [secretary of state for communities and local government] John Denham about this situation and asked him to intervene to change the regulations governing the operations of wheel clampers in England.

He added: "We are proposing a motion to the next full council meeting in November.

"We will be calling for our legal officers to explore the possibility of using anti-social behaviour legislation to secure Asbos against some of the operatives that have been clamping people in this car park."

Mr Williamson said some of the activities of clampers which had been reported to the council "amounted to anti-social behaviour".

Matthew Rutherford, who runs clamping company CP Management, said his firm was acting properly.

He said: "The fines that are set have been set by case law, £125 is deemed as reasonable by the courts and that is why we charge that figure."

He said the firm would pursue the original fine through the courts if necessary.

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Simone Avila said she could not afford the £125 fine