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Clampdown on clamping
Page 20
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Vehicle dampers have a lousy reputation for dodgy dealings, but a iew law is designed to end drivers' misery. Chris Tindall reports.
irwenty-two years after the first vehicle was clamped in Britain, a law has finally )een passed that is designed to ;tub cowboy wheel dampers.
Last week clamping on private and without a licence became a riminal offence. Anyone operatng without a Security Industry kuthority (SIA) licence stands to ncur fines of up to £5,000 and five rears in prison.
Record checks _hider the SIA regulations,vehicle mmobilisers (including towing iway and blocking vehicles) arc -equired to undergo identity and ximinal records checks:They must )1so pass a five-day training course ;0 show they have reached acceptfble levels of training and profes;ional standards.
Edmund King, executive direcLor of the RAC Foundation, says: 'Cowboy dampers have been al lowed to get away with their unscrupulous activities for far too long. Up until now many motorists have felt that they have no rights and no option but to hand over often extortionate amounts of money to the dampers. Now any rogue damper operating without a licence faces a large fine and even imprisonment."
And truck drivers know all about extortionate demands. Back in September last year CM carried out an investigation into one clamping company, Parking Control Management (PCM), which was targeting trucks on the Lakeside industrial park in Essex. Drivers were forced to pay £250 before the company would release their trucks (CM 9 September 2004).
Unfortunately, the new licensing law does not allow for curbs on how much a company or individual can charge as a release fee, but it should reduce the number of clampers who feel obliged to levy exorbitant amounts.
"What the licence does is make [dampers] operate in a professional manner," says an SIA spokesman. "It encourages responsible clamping firms and gets rid of cowboys."
Valid licence
A spokeswoman for the British Parking Association adds that each individual involved in clamping must hold and prominently display a valid SIA licence; although a clamping company itself cannot hold one.
A PCM (UK) spokeswoman confirms its entire staff now hold SIA licence numbers. She adds: "We knew about it a long time ago and we had to get our staff trained and on the courses.
"All our operatives are now trained and have an NVQ in vehicle immobilisation." •