The Automobile Association (AA) has called for wheel clamping to be made illegal.
The AA says the growing enforcement of clamping in private car parks is reaching 'epidemic' levels, saying the prevalence of clamping now 'shocking and unacceptable'.
Clamping now affects more than one in ten drivers a year says the AA, who added ten of thousands of people have had their car clamped or removed from private car parks.
Last month the RAC also took on clampers, saying they could well be breaking the law themselves.
At the time, director of the RAC Foundation, Professor Stephen Glaister, said: 'We recognise the right of a landowner to enjoy his property without unauthorised obstruction. However, for so many reasons clamping does not fit the bill as a method of enforcement.'
On Friday, the AA has said private enforcers follow no general regulations for parking control in private car parks. They have said the latest Home Office proposals, to license wheel clamping businesses in addition to the clampers themselves being licensed, will not work.
The AA claims: 'The proposed new system would see all wheel clampers' businesses forced to register with an 'approved trade association' (ATA) and be bound by a code of practice.
'They would then be granted a license to clamp and remove vehicles, providing the clampers themselves were also licensed in accordance with Security Industry Authority rules.
'However, in its response, the AA has told the Home Office that the only ATA, the British Parking Association (BPA - a parking industry trade body) cannot be truly independent and provide proper protection for the general public.
'The AA does not believe that the BPA can regulate a private parking enforcement industry which is out of control. Consequently, the AA believes that the only way forward would be to make wheel clamping illegal, as it is in Scotland.'
The automotive group claim much of the problem has stemmed from Do It Yourself (DIY) packs, where anyone can set themselves up as a parking enforcer and 'start to cash in'. The association has used a number of examples to show what they say is 'unjustified' clamping, including:
An elderly pensioner and her sick husband who were wrongly 'doubled charged' £370 by a clamper/tower (who belonged to the 'trade association' and breached its code despite having declared it would abide by its rules) – they have now recovered their cash after threats of legal action.
Also, a lady who apparently stopped, literally for seconds, heard a noise at the rear of her car. Someone said 'I won't be a moment' and clamped her car while she sat in it with the engine running - before 'double-charging' her £300
The AA's head of public affairs, Paul Watters says: 'Self-regulation is not working as there are too many firms and individuals operating in this often shady area. The trade body members making and enforcing the rules are trying to rein in something that is spiralling out of control.
'Private parking enforcement is big business generating millions of pounds and no-one notices and acts when the rules are broken. The public have absolutely no protection if a private parking firm acts unfairly - it is a civil matter and no-one is interested in helping. How on earth can people believe that if you appeal to an enforcer you are going to get a fair hearing – the BPA will not act as arbiter?
'It is time for regulation of private enforcement through local authorities who can licence the land where parking is to be controlled – and we need a completely independent appeal system, perhaps through the parking adjudication services which already exist.'
The AA says the growing enforcement of clamping in private car parks is reaching 'epidemic' levels, saying the prevalence of clamping now 'shocking and unacceptable'.
Clamping now affects more than one in ten drivers a year says the AA, who added ten of thousands of people have had their car clamped or removed from private car parks.
Last month the RAC also took on clampers, saying they could well be breaking the law themselves.
At the time, director of the RAC Foundation, Professor Stephen Glaister, said: 'We recognise the right of a landowner to enjoy his property without unauthorised obstruction. However, for so many reasons clamping does not fit the bill as a method of enforcement.'
On Friday, the AA has said private enforcers follow no general regulations for parking control in private car parks. They have said the latest Home Office proposals, to license wheel clamping businesses in addition to the clampers themselves being licensed, will not work.
The AA claims: 'The proposed new system would see all wheel clampers' businesses forced to register with an 'approved trade association' (ATA) and be bound by a code of practice.
'They would then be granted a license to clamp and remove vehicles, providing the clampers themselves were also licensed in accordance with Security Industry Authority rules.
'However, in its response, the AA has told the Home Office that the only ATA, the British Parking Association (BPA - a parking industry trade body) cannot be truly independent and provide proper protection for the general public.
'The AA does not believe that the BPA can regulate a private parking enforcement industry which is out of control. Consequently, the AA believes that the only way forward would be to make wheel clamping illegal, as it is in Scotland.'
The automotive group claim much of the problem has stemmed from Do It Yourself (DIY) packs, where anyone can set themselves up as a parking enforcer and 'start to cash in'. The association has used a number of examples to show what they say is 'unjustified' clamping, including:
An elderly pensioner and her sick husband who were wrongly 'doubled charged' £370 by a clamper/tower (who belonged to the 'trade association' and breached its code despite having declared it would abide by its rules) – they have now recovered their cash after threats of legal action.
Also, a lady who apparently stopped, literally for seconds, heard a noise at the rear of her car. Someone said 'I won't be a moment' and clamped her car while she sat in it with the engine running - before 'double-charging' her £300
The AA's head of public affairs, Paul Watters says: 'Self-regulation is not working as there are too many firms and individuals operating in this often shady area. The trade body members making and enforcing the rules are trying to rein in something that is spiralling out of control.
'Private parking enforcement is big business generating millions of pounds and no-one notices and acts when the rules are broken. The public have absolutely no protection if a private parking firm acts unfairly - it is a civil matter and no-one is interested in helping. How on earth can people believe that if you appeal to an enforcer you are going to get a fair hearing – the BPA will not act as arbiter?
'It is time for regulation of private enforcement through local authorities who can licence the land where parking is to be controlled – and we need a completely independent appeal system, perhaps through the parking adjudication services which already exist.'
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