Mum’s message for car clampers after son is caught out
ANGRY mum Julia Hazel got her own back on car clampers – with a bucket of sludge and a video camera.
The 43-year-old saw red after her son’s car was clamped in Cosham, Portsmouth, and she had to stump up the £205 release fee.
She filled a bucket up with porridge, frozen vegetables and food colouring to turn the mixture bright yellow.
Then she went down to the car park, behind the Iceland store in Old Market Road, and lay in wait.
When a clamper from controversial firm City Watch turned up, Julia chased him round the car park with the bucket before emptying the contents over the seats of his van.
Her friend Vicki Hamlyn, 48, filmed the episode on a video camera.
Vicki posted it on YouTube under the username MsWheelclamper – and it has clocked up more than 3,000 hits.
Julia, of Wells Close, Milton, said she felt she had to act after her son was clamped on September 15.
She said: ‘I got a call from my son to say he had been clamped, even though he had left his car for literally two minutes so he could get change for the meter.
‘The situation was disgusting enough but what infuriated me was overhearing the clamper in the background saying “are you going to get mummy then are you?”.
‘At that point I saw red. My son didn’t have the money to pay so I had to go down and hand over the money or else they were going to tow his car away. Afterwards I realised something needed to be done.
‘I don’t regret it and I believe I was sticking up for everyone who has been affected by the clampers.
‘Someone was being clamped at the time so it spurred me on.
‘Everyone has thought about doing the same. People in the car park were cheering and clapping.’
Police ordered Julia to pay £60 in compensation to City Watch Enforcement for cleaning of uniforms and its van.
She sent a cheque to the firm last week.
Portsmouth City Council is to take over parking enforcement in the new year after a string of complaints about City Watch, which has taken more than £40,000 from motorists this year.
The clamping firm refused to comment when it was contacted by The News.
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Comments
There are 62 comments to this article
Page 1 of 5
clamper hater
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 10:24 PMFreefall1. Again, you are wrong. I used to be a parking attendant so i know the rules and regulations of on and off road parking regulations. The police and courts will take the evidence as read, especially if it's a local authority or a SIA registered firm, they consider them a proven source. How many people did i book in the past claim that a ticket wasn't on their windscreen when they got back to their car. The adjudication appeals panel will ask for evidence of the ticket being issued, the position of the car, photos on the inside to show there was no ticket and photos of the clamp on the vehicle. It's on the onus of the driver to prove the clamp wasn't on there. And like i've said in the past, they usually work in pairs and it their two words against yours. in other words, you're stuffed.
the don
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 09:01 PMpolice cell then once you get released you would have to recover your car from the pound so to be honest would it be worth the hassle of commuting criminal offences in the long run
the don
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 09:00 PMcars that are clamped are monitored closely if you was to start tampering your damaging the clamp you would the be blocked in your space which is also a legal manuvere also while damaging the clamp you would be recorded and if anyone thinks blocking a car in after it has been clamped is not a legal manuvere check the sia website it is an authorised tactic you are allowed to use if you are a registered sia badge holder also known as block by barrier so you would not achieve anything by doing damage to remove clamp only prolong your stay while awaiting your transport to p
Freefall1
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 08:25 PM@28 clamper hater, I think you missed my point. Any digital photo from an unproven source is questionable as they can be easily altered. A photograph of a wheel clamp fitted to a vehicle only shows that it was fitted at the time the photograph was taken. Who is to say that the clamp was only there for the purposes of the photo? If you get my drift........ "When I returned to my vehicle your honour, there was no clamp or notice attached to it" ;)
the don
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 07:46 PMyeah that's the exact same as I got same person whoever I spoke to at the news was an deputy editor I'm not sure if you have evidence of the original but would advise reporting to the police yourself like I did n hopefully others have done so and hopefully they take it seriously by rights I think the news should report to police then follow up and follow the progress through the courts and publish all coverage on it and name and shame the individual I'm not racist I am against the Muslim extremists as they take innocent life's but that's not coz of there colour it's because what they do how can people take lives by taking there own lives but alot of my friends are Africans Nigerians and of ethnic backgrounds
clamper hater
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 06:39 PMThe Don, i got the exact same message from the PCC, someone called Simon Yip. Like i told them, i'm 100% behind my original complaint and i am absolutely disgusted that the news won't do anything about it. Anyone can make up another email address and start again. What the idiot did was illegal, using that word is racially aggravated and is against the law. If the News aren't doing anything about it, they are condoning it and they should hang their heads in shame. Lets hope the Police do something about it and tell the News that they acted inappropriately.
the don
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 06:27 PMalso with regards to the racial comments I spoke with a deputy editor this morning who said he deleted yesterday which takes some time however while I was on the phone he was typing away and conveniently they disappeared I also asked if the details of person who registered the account would be passed to police he said no they would be banned and removed from site but no action against the individual meaning he could sign up a new account and get away scott free this I feel is a disgrace as the news has backed and promoted anti racist campaigns I since have had a reply from press complaints commission saying this Thank you for your email The Commission is able to consider user-generated material – such as readers’ comments – provided that there has been an element of editorial control over it. In practice, this means that it can consider pre-moderated comments or, in terms of post-moderation, material which has been brought to the editor’s attention but a decision has been made for the material to remain on the website. In this case, the comment appears to have been removed by the newspaper in question. Do you wish to proceed in the circumstances? I feel this has not been dealt with appropriately and if anyone else complained hopefully you will too follow this complaint to the end
the don
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 06:09 PMfirstly I have to mention as back in the day I worked along with someone who worked for aquarius aka Gordon miller the tactics used by them then was totally unacceptable and will not back them what so ever as it was disgraceful I used to be a spotter drive around areas find cars and commission for each car sometimes they would find cars and pull up while they was in drivers seat and engine running block clamp demand money or within 5 minutes a tow trucks coming this was completely uncalled for along with this none of them was ever sia registered so had no right to do what they was doing ie why they got banged up for long stretches also with clamping a marked police car in leyland paints and having pictures of him receiveing money from the police was disgraceful also this is what made clamping in Portsmouth a bad name if a ticket is not in a car and no person is in sight or at machines cars are clamped very tightly to the 10 minute mark also any tickets expired are left ten minutes sometimes more which is legal I myself have withdrawn from ticket checking due to this high media problem however I have witnessed alot of good behaviour 1 of a woman who had a baby on oxygen who was 20mins overdue which was not clamped or charged just a word of warning along with people who's tickets have blown on floor or also flipped over the wrong way which have been initially clamped and then remove free of charge after checking they was valid but by law they was still chargeable as they was not on display and if that was a pcv car park you would get ticketed and not win an appeal so there are extremely good sides to the clampers which many people have not seen however it's a shame these people ain't here posting positive comments
Graham Wheatley
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 04:36 PMSirJJ (51), don't misunderstand me, if the signage is clear & unambiguous and people wilfully ignore it, then they deserve everything they get. Sort of. I'll qualify that by saying 'unless the situation has been engineered to divest people of their hard-earned cash' which in many circumstances is the case and is a good enough reason to object to any charges being implemented in the first place. You don't think that people are being legally mugged every day? Despite the protestations of 'the don' that they allow 10-15minutes before clamping a vehicle, I think we all know (and many of us will have witnessed 1st hand) the bully-boy tactics of the various clamping companies - to name but a few; Shoal, Whites, that nice man Mr. Gordon Miller from Aquarius who got 3 years at Her Majesty's pleasure after being found guilty on 7 counts of blackmailing motorists. --- “The don's” early postings on this parallel thread say a lot about the clampers’ mindset I think; he virtually admits to being their scout, saving them valuable time when they do roll-up to whip out the clamps - http:!!www.portsmouth.co.uk!news!transport!mp_makes_a_stand_in_parliament_1_3241900 (substitute forward slash for '!' as usual...). Unless the business(es) that this carpark serves decide to implement a refund-to-shopper scheme at the checkout, then the only winner in all this will be PCC. Such a scheme will clearly involve giving money back to a proportion of the carpark’s users. That would be a benefit to the businesses as it helps them to retain their customers, however, that concept is highly counterintuitive to PCC, which is why they will never even consider it.
Appy pompeii
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 04:01 PMIt will be interesting to see what happens about the racist remarks. I trust THE NEWS will have to publish the outcome !
the don
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 02:55 PMwell said sirjj this is what most users of the carpark say about the matter it seems that the people who are complaining and making it hard for people to continue there job due to all the bad media is the people who want to be able to offend and not be caught out or are the people who have been caught out and wish to try and cause alot of hassle as they feel they should be allowed to offend maybe if there was double yellow lines painted round all the parking bays they would realise they can't park for free without getting caught as no one chooses to park on double yellows down there as they don't wanna get a ticket but it's only a small minority of people down there kicking off a fuss and causing the media problems And not hearing about the people who understands that it should be done to enforce a 50p ticket I think the news should issue a poll against and for the clamping and also list that in an article in the news and see what the outcome is first before publishing more nonsense
Sir JJ
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 01:41 PM(49) How are people being legally mugged. At 1203 this afternoon, I parked in that carpark, put my 50p in the meter and placed my ticket in the windscreen like i do every week. I parked within the regulations and I didn't receive a wheel clamp. What I did see was one lady park her car, walk away and didn't even attempt to buy a ticket. It's the thick and ignorant people like her that go crying when their cars are clamped then take the law into their own hands. If people have had enough, I say this to them, (that's if they can read, I doubt it because they can't read the signs in the Car park). PAY 50p, PARK WITHIN THE REGULATIONS AND YOU WON'T GET CLAMPED. It really is as simple as that. Don't give the clampers the satisfaction of getting £205 out of you. So all you sad sacks out there crying, IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT. No one forced you to park there.
ALANBALLSBOOTS
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 11:35 AMI suggest paying £1 to park. Then when you have done your shopping take your ticket in to a shop such as tesco or any other shop in cosham for a refund . As they do in waterloovile. It works there .. Simple
Graham Wheatley
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 10:31 AMSirJJ (47), what has this got to do with clampers in Cosham? In regard to Tman’s (41) point about what people fought and died for - it certainly wasn’t so that their sacrifices could subsequently be ignored by the people that sent them off to war. Nor was it so that their descendents could live in a country where they would be continually legally mugged with the tacit approval of the local authority. In both these instances (the Luton Peace Riot & the Cosham Clampers) people have said “enough!”. --- Despite all of ‘the dons’ inane chat, he does make one very valid point in his last posting, in that when PCC take over, the charges WILL go up. This whole situation merely confirms to them that the area ‘needs regulating’ and as past experience has shown, PCC will regard this as yet another opportunity to generate some revenue. It would have been much better if an ‘ASDA’ type of arrangement had been in-place - £1 (or whatever the traders deemed appropriate) for (say) 2hrs parking, refunded to the genuine shopper at the checkout. It may turn out that everybody has shot themselves in the foot over this one.
the don
Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 08:18 PMif and when the council takes over management the other car park in cosham is charged at this rate • Minimum charge of 30 minutes 60p • Up to 1 hour 90p • Up to 2 hours £1.70 • Up to 3 hours £2.70 • Up to 4 hours £3.40 • Up to 6 hours £6.20 • Up to 8 hours £8.20 • All day £10 do you all agree that is going to cost alot more than it is now at 50p an hour and £3.50 for the whole day if your a regular shopper I think people would rather it stayed under same management and didn't change hands is there not enough signs up there or what give me your views coz I think people are just plain stupid to ignore signs and the majority of people I have spoken to in that car park have said that if people choose not to pay then it's there fault and they deserve it if anythings gonna drive people away from cosham it will be council charges then once again people will be here whining again and moaning about traffic wardens
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