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Fixed penalty
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Clampers on the Lakeside industrial estate near Thurrock have hit truckers' pockets hard. Chris
Tindall investigates how the dampers operate.
Having your truck clamped within 18 seconds of leaving the cab must be some sort of record, but that is exactly what has been claimed among the many complaints CM has received about parking at the Lakeside industrial park in Essex.
Drivers have criticised the lack of signs warning that dampers are in operation and the small size of those unofficial looking signs that do exist .As if that wasn't enough, hapless truckers are being forced to shell out f:250 to have a clamp removed. That's among the highest charges we've heard of. If it transpires there is substance to these operators' accusations, then clamping at Thurrock is a lucrative business.
It's 10.30am and vehicles are streaming in to the industrial estate from the M25, to buy goods, visit the nearby supermarket or buy fuel. Nothing happens for almost an hour and a half. when a police car suddenly pulls up in the petrol forecourt. The officer gets out and has a discussion with two men who are driving an unmarked silver Fiat Doblo van. Eventually, t he policeman hands one of the men a piece of paper he has pulled out of his boot and both vehicles drive away. This episode seems unremarkable until 20 minutes later,when the Fiat returns
The dampers pounce
A red bulk powder tanker operated by Ashbourne-based Kenneth Twyford pulls up on one of the estate's access roads. The driver jumps out and enters the nearby petrol station. Seconds after leaving his vehicle the silver Fiat appears and stops by the truck. Both men get out and begin clamping it immediately.
"It's clearly signposted: No HGVs," says one of the them. "They [trucks' have been causing damage here, I think." He says he works for Parking Control Management (PCM), the clamping firm CM has written about in the past, and reports that they patrol "parts" of the Lakeside site. He confirms that the driver will have to pay £250 to have the clamp removed.
The truck driver reappears no more than five minutes later. By this time, the dampers have attached part of the clamp to the underside of the artic and are in the process of clamping the wheel. He barges the PCM employees out of the way and climbs into his cab without saying a word. Incredibly, he then starts the vehicle up and starts to drive back towards the M25.
"He's going to get his licence taken off him if carries on up the road," warns the damper, above the noise the clamp makes as it scrapes along the road. Seemingly unperturbed by the driver's actions, the men return to their vehi cle and drive away. A passer-by who also witnesses the clamping says: "It's absolutely diabolical. It'sf.75SO in London."
Fifteen minutes later Tesco driver Chris Newby pulls up in his artic and parks Very close to where the Kenneth Twyford driver was clamped. He says he's on his break and says he knows nothing about the dampers in operation. I ask him if he knows that he could be clamped if he remains there: "I don't know, there are no signs." I point to one, a few yards from where he is parked: "Oh, shit," he responds. "I don't think the sign is official.That's a piece of paper. I could put one up saying Happy Birthday!"
Newby says there are not enough places for trucks to park at Lakeside:"This is an industrial estate lorries are coming in here every day."
Thirty minutes later the clampers strike again. A Ci&S International Logistics truck pulls up so its drivers can pick up some supplies before heading off to Greece to drop off and pick up a load. But 10 minutes after arriving the clamps have been fixed to its wheel.
"There was a truck parked in front of us," says Carol Barnabyne, while her husband forks out the £250 to have the clamp removed. "We are in a rush, we didn't see the sign." She turns to the dampers and shouts abuse at them, which they ignore.
Newby comes over and claims PCM has clamped the wrong wheel. He says they should only clamp the nearside front tyre, not the far side. But it's too late, David Barnabyne has paid up and the couple continue on theirjourney.
Tales of damage Later in the afternoon an employee for one of the companies on the estate explains that trucks have caused considerable damage to its car park and points out signposts that have been hit, and verges that no longer have grass growing on them, due to the actions of drivers. He claims there have also been accidents in the past and mutters that the dampers have told him to "mind his own business" when he once tried to intervene. He also says the PCM drivers sometimes swap vehicles, to avoid being recognised.
A truck pulling a Transamerica Leasing trailer parks up behind Newby's. Within minutes the silver Doblo arrives on its return circuit and drives past both vehicles, but it doesn't stop and both escape being clamped.
The PCM van later pulls up alongside me and one of the men gets out. I ask him how many trucks he has clamped today and why the Tesco truck was not targeted. His reply to both questions is the same: 'We are not at liberty to say.".