It’s rare that I look at the headline in the Daily Mail and think “that makes sense”, but I do agree with their campaign to ban clampers. Personally, I’d like to go further than banning them actually, and instead clamp all clampers to a lamppost and make them wear a giant flashing neon hat saying “clamper” on it, and have people throw vegetables at them until they pay an exorbitant release fee of my choosing.

Sadly the government haven’t listened to my lamppost / vegetable idea, and have simply banned clampers. The press release actually says that they have banned “cowboy clampers”, which makes me think of Marlboro Men affixing things to the wheels of my Peugeot 207 in between herding thousands of cattle across Arizona. But apparently that’s not what it meant.

Anyway, so the coalition, in the guise of Liberal Democrat ministers Lynne Featherstone and Norman Baker have announced that car clamping on private land is to be banned.

This long-standing Liberal Democrat policy and manifesto commitment will be introduced as part of the Freedom Bill this Autumn.

Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone said:

“The Government is committed to ending the menace of rogue private sector wheel clampers once and for all.

“For too long motorists have fallen victim to unscrupulous tactics by many clamping firms. Reports of motorists being marched to cash points or left stranded after their car has been towed are simply unacceptable.

“A ban on clamping and towing on private land will end this abuse and companies who decide to flout new laws will face severe penalties.”

Transport minister Norman Baker, who campaigned to ban private wheel clamping as Shadow Transport Secretary before the election, added:

“The rules governing parking on private land should be proportionate and should not result in motorists being intimidated or forced to pay excessive fines.

“Cowboy clampers have had ample opportunity to mend their ways but the cases of bullying and extortion persist.

“That is why we are putting an end to these outrageous practices once and for all to ensure that drivers no longer have to fear intimidation from rogue traders, allowing the parking industry to begin to restore its reputation with the motoring public.”

Hurrah for that.

Rick