Link to news story about clampers on skynews:
LINKSo it’s nearly time to hang up me boltcutters. 
So who reckons MSAs will avoid being ‘private land’ when this comes in?
wilbur:
So who reckons MSAs will avoid being ‘private land’ when this comes in?
It doesn’t matter. The private firms are being outlawed. Only the police or local authority can clamp you, and they won’t be coming to do that at an msa. They’ll only be able to stick a ticket on you, and seeing as most of them have laid off the attendants for the computers, bring on the free parking
I heard this on the news this morning and am ecstatic, hopefully this will be the end of the “no parking in coach areas when HGV area is full” debate.
If it means a driver out of time and knackered is given a (reasonably) safe place to park up for the night without the worry of a clamp then I’m all for it.
Alex
having been involved in clamping i,m thinking the complete end is the wrong decision, ok cowboy companies and idiots need to go, and i cant really see the need for it at msa,s ect,
i worked at a university where clamping was bought in and removal at times, reasons the carparks were based mainly around the perimeter of the campus so the carparks near to the centre were full by 7.30 in the morn but this did,nt stop some folk blocking others in, parking on garden areas even in the entrance exit of the carpark stopping anyone from moving… they also blocked up local streets where residents were unable to get their own cars off their drives ect and go about their buisness, blocked emergency lanes, blocked delivery routes ect.
we even used to have numerous cars abandoned on the campus by foreign students who had either gone home for the hols or just finished uni and gone home for good…
i really think a deterant is needed for these type of selfish people who seem to be getting more common…
town/city centers are a pain in the arse to deliver to with disabled folk abandoning their cars whats it gonna be like when others are allowed to get away with it??
alot of places i deliver to have access roads/carparks which are private land and not controlled by parking wardens …
the one thing that always surprised me when I was involved in clamping was how many people would phone and report a vehicle that in their opionion needed clamping… yet everyone hates clamping?.. it got to a point where the clamping guys would just sit in the control room awaiting the phone calls…
But if a car is parked in a place which causes congestion, how does it help to immobilise it?
like thisIt looks like this new law will be a waste of time.
Clamping will be outlawed on private land but from what I have read about the new law so far, private car parks will be able to charge up to £75 for infringements of their own rules, if they sign up to BPA (British Parking Association) rules and then legally pursued for the debt. This in itself is a farce as it was the BPA who flew the flag for the clamping companies in the first place, with bogus appeals etc etc
It sounds as though it has not been thought through very well. Ok, so you won’t get clamped but maybe you will now be legally pursued for up to £75.
This would catch out trucks in coach bays, cars in truck bays etc etc
We need to see the full facts before any celebrations! 
Remember though that these ‘tickets’ that they give out when the new rules come in, will only enforceable through the civil courts and are not fines, much in the same way it is now, so I would imagine a lot of people will probably still ignore them.
Parking tickets, as we know them, can only be given out by traffic wardens and local authority.
Ken.
Thats why I didnt refer to them as “fines”.
We need to see a copy of the actual rules regarding this new law.
Because it just may be that it will be far easier for these parking companies to pursue their “fines” with the full backing of the courts system, which they do not currently have.
dle1uk:
having been involved in clamping i,m thinking the complete end is the wrong decision, ok cowboy companies and idiots need to go, and i cant really see the need for it at msa,s ect,i worked at a university where clamping was bought in and removal at times, reasons the carparks were based mainly around the perimeter of the campus so the carparks near to the centre were full by 7.30 in the morn but this did,nt stop some folk blocking others in, parking on garden areas even in the entrance exit of the carpark stopping anyone from moving… they also blocked up local streets where residents were unable to get their own cars off their drives ect and go about their buisness, blocked emergency lanes, blocked delivery routes ect.
we even used to have numerous cars abandoned on the campus by foreign students who had either gone home for the hols or just finished uni and gone home for good…i really think a deterant is needed for these type of selfish people who seem to be getting more common…
town/city centers are a pain in the arse to deliver to with disabled folk abandoning their cars whats it gonna be like when others are allowed to get away with it??
alot of places i deliver to have access roads/carparks which are private land and not controlled by parking wardens …the one thing that always surprised me when I was involved in clamping was how many people would phone and report a vehicle that in their opionion needed clamping… yet everyone hates clamping?.. it got to a point where the clamping guys would just sit in the control room awaiting the phone calls…
The tone of these posts is always the same. but as previously mentioned on several other posts if a vehicle is obstructing the road or an access, what is the point of clamping it? The story about the nurse when she popped in to see a patient and would probably have been gone within 15 or 20 minutes was clamped and blocked the access for 5 hours 
because of the clampers actions, the nurse did not get to see her other patients, many of whom may be lonely & elderly and look forward to the district nurse popping in for 10 minutes once a week. If a vehicle needs to be clamped, then it should be removed not immobilised.
You mention blue badge holders, if they break the law they are punished by the enforcement authorities or risk losing the entitlement to hold a badge, they are not clamped.
dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/259428/2 … scheme.pdf
You also mention drivers parking in residential streets and going to work, well in the fair city of Derby they have built a £1.5billion pound hospital without enough parking facilities, they bus them in from the old hospital where there was never enough parking either, hospital staff are paying private residents £35 per month to park in their drives to avoid the local clamping firms that have sprung up with plastic signs and a 1984 transit van with thugs inside.
At the end of the day there are not enough reasonably priced parking facilities in the UK for trucks or cars. Motorway Service Areas should be free as they are still part of the road network, the law says that a driver must rest, not having to worry about clampers or going without meals because they are so extortionate in their pricing. The foreigners don’t care, they park on the hard shoulders because they are not used to the ridiculous situation and don’t always know our little secret places.
I cannot remember ever seeing a wheel clamp in Europe except as an anti theft device on a trailer or a caravan. I have never paid to park in Europe, or if I had, you are given that back off the price of your meal or drinks. Parking is simply a tax, the clampers and security companies are like latter day Robin Hoods, Robin ZB’s more like.
agreed that if a vehicle is blocking access then clamping can prolong the problem! however in my experience the vehicle would not have been clamped but a notice placed on the side screen explaining the problem caused, and due to the agreement made with the university i worked at, you could only park if you had a permit, the obtaining of the permit included certain conditions! so a charge could could be made or the loss of the permit which meant they could not park on the university other then pay and display which as a member of staff could be expensive…
but at present the signs and the warning of possible clamping is enough to stop majority of people abandoning their vehicles on private land,
whilst I was at uni i did ask the question why new buildings were being built without adequate parking space. i was told it was down to local council planning commitee and govt that they make a charge for each parking space? not sure wether true or not though…
fully agree that cowboys are causing the problem and charging ridiculous release fees, I did have to do a SIA course thingy to obtain a license which cost if i remember right about £500 for the course and £100 for the license which had to be renewed every year (i think) the govt started the SIA but have now backed away from it,
the blue badge i,m not sure what happens now. but when i did the original course we were told no action could be taken against a disabled driver displaying the blue badge… tbh my mother in law as blue badge and there is nothing wrong with her… they are to easy to obtain and abuse.
but yep uk has,nt enough free/cheap parking spaces but i still reckon the same problems will be there if carparks were free. as alot of folk simply cannot be arsed to walk… it amazes me in places like harrogate where you see top of the range vehicles parked in town centre were you only have to look down the street to see that wing mirrors have been clipped by buses/trucks ect… i seriously would not put my own vehicle at risk of being clipped or damaged…
in filey today a car was parked in a driveway, the drivers side was parked against a wall that had in ■■■■■■■■■ letters please don,t block this drive 24 hr access reqd. guess what access blocked.
i live in a small village, we get our fair share of ramblers but even though there is a signed free carpark at the village hall they will still park outside our house at times stopping us getting our car offour drive! just because oposite us is he church with some picnic benches that they can have their lunch/ get changed ect… they can walk acrosscountry for 10 miles but simply cannot walk around the corner on a pavement…
There is a firm round here that clamps on a poorly-signposted piece of waste land, and they often park a couple of (unclamped) cars on it themselves as a lure to others to park there.
wilbur:
So who reckons MSAs will avoid being ‘private land’ when this comes in?
when was the last time you saw a sign at msa which said private keep off, they are all open to the public as are public car parks, B & Q car parks etc none of them are classed as private they are all open to the public but most do have restrictions the only land which is classed as private is where the public are not invited to use
one point on this is that the govt via SIA have made a load of money out of this! the SIA was setup to stop the cowboys operating which obviously as failed! but as part of my job at the time I had to have SIA training license for clamping (even though I only took payments) license for door staff, license for security. license for CCTV, all incorporated training courses and renewal fees. and even though all were issued via sia each license had to be paid for seperately the charge supposedly being made for checking your references… which I was told by the ex copper who took my door staff course where checked by BT?
see a similar pattern coming with CPC…
Well done england finally caught up with the rest of the UK 
I heard a legal opinion on the radio a while back that only the authorities [and your mother!] can punish.
This meant that any ‘ticket’ issued by anyone other than police or councils is not legal.
The only charge others can give is one of ‘inconvienience’.
So if you ever get one, send a fiver back ‘in full and final settlement’.
You’re unlikely to hear any more from them.
On clamping: It’s a pity the gov didn’t do it right in the first place by regulating companies,not individual clampers.
In some situations,like allocated parking at flats etc, clamping is a good deterent.
On balance though,i’m in favour of the ban.
r slicker:
mmmmmmmmmmmbbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-10996451
this tool was on radio ones newsbeat, and was ranting and raving about it, i couldnt understand a word he was saying…
and those that attend prays seem to get away with it anyhow…