Outrage as clampers demand £125 to release your car - then £100 if you swear about it

04th July 2008

'Outrageous': A clamping company is charging an extra £100 if customers swear

A clamping firm has caused outrage by imposing a £100 fine for people who swear at staff.

Bulldog Services charges £125 to release a clamp, but adds the £100 if 'customers' are abusive.

It claims the fee is to cover the cost of sending extra staff to the scene to deal with irate drivers.

One woman who was hit with the penalty this week in Bath, Somerset, said it was unfair.

The 32-year-old shopper, who wants to stay anonymous, said: 'It is outrageous that they can treat people like this.'

The woman and her husband, from Bath, called Bulldog Services when they found their car clamped outside a Comet store.

When a clamper turned up, the woman claims her husband swore at her in frustration - but the attendant immediately raised the release fee by £100.

She said no extra clampers were called to the scene and the extra charge is unjustified.

'My husband turned to me and swore. It was in no way directed at the attendant,' she added.

Bulldog Services said: 'The charge is to stop abusive behaviour towards attendants. If it is necessary to call someone out to deal with difficult customers, they will have to pay.'

Comet said: 'The car park is for customers. Anyone in breach of this is liable to be clamped.'

Outrageous behaviour by some clampers has gained them notoriety as the modern equivalent of highway robbers.

Motorists are known to have been ordered to provide wedding rings, gold teeth or sexual favours when they have been unable to pay a release fee.

One operator even threatened to hold a three-year-old girl hostage until her mother came back with £60 and a taxi driver was clamped when he left his cab to pick up a disabled passenger from a West Midlands library. He had to pay £70.

Motorists have long been lobbying for clamping regulations to be tightened.

It is currently legal for a company to put up warning signs on private land and then clamp anyone who parks there.

The clamper does not need to own the land and in many cases the landowner may not know clamping is being carried out.

It is illegal for a driver to try to remove the clamp.