Councils face wheel clamp ban
Updated on 16 August 2007
Councils are to be banned from using wheel clamps to raise money.
The move is part of a major shake-up of parking regulations from the Department for Transport.
The guidelines from Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly were issued to councils in England and Wales and put priority on winning public support.
The document said: "It is important that the local authority's guidelines can command public support by making the level of enforcement proportional to the seriousness of the contravention.
"Wheel clamping may be brought into disrepute if a local authority permits it for what the public may regard as relatively unimportant contraventions.
"For the less serious contraventions, local authorities should therefore consider whether wheel clamping should only be undertaken in certain cases."
The guidance also recommends a 15 minute "period of grace" for people parked after the meter has run out.
It suggests clampers should give a "low priority" to immobilising cars overstaying beyond 15 minutes, parked on a single yellow line or in a residents' bay without a permit.
Cases given a "medium priority" include people "feeding" a meter to stay beyond the maximum period or not paying at all.
Wheel clampers are instead urged to put their effort into targeting persistent offenders and vehicles which are suspicious in other ways - such as not displaying a valid tax disk.
Cars that have been clamped should be released within an hour of payment, the document said.
Transport Minister Rosie Winterton said: "There is a perception that motorists are often unfairly penalised by parking attendants who are only interested in issuing as many tickets as possible. We want to ensure the penalties they issue are fair and justified."
Edmund King, the executive director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Clamping is a crude activity which should have been outlawed at the time of Dick Turpin.
"Overzealous enforcement, confusing signs and lines, and the belief that councils are using parking fines to raise revenue rather than keep the traffic moving are all issues that motorists raise with us. We hope that this guidance will lead to a fairer regime."
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