Driver suing clamp company for £30k

A motorist who was clamped in Walsall is suing the company for £30,000 because his car is still lying in a compound four months on.

Social worker Garnet Grey is claiming for the rail fare it has cost him to get to and from work in Nottingham and accommodation costs because he is often forced to stay overnight. He also wants bus and taxi fares he has had to fork out for stumped up by Elite Parking Control Ltd.

But the firm says he owes them £4,498 – the cost of leaving his car in 'storage' at £50 a day.

The 42-year-old from Dora Street, Pleck, was clamped on May 23 after leaving his Volvo on the car park in Dudley Street while he went to a nearby gym.

But when he returned an hour later he found his car had been towed away and when he went to investigate, was told he owed £440.

He refused and after being charged £50 a day by the firm ever since, must pay £4,498 if he wants his three-year-old car back.

Yesterday Mr Grey appeared at Walsall County Court yesterday to claim damages from the firm, which has put in a counter claim for the money it says it is owed.

Mr Grey said: "There was no way I was going to pay such a high amount. If the fine was £100 I would have paid but £440 – no way.

"I was only away from my car for just over an hour yet by the time I had got back it had been towed away."

Mr Grey said if he successful, he hoped other motorists might follow suit and battle the clampers.

"They are just ripping people off," he said. "There was one tony sign on the car park which was between two huge advertising hoardings warning about the consequences of being clamped. I never saw it.

Motorists are being taken advantage off by clamping companies and it's just not on. The law has got to change. Clamping has been banned in Scotland." A date has yet to be fixed for Mr Grey's next appearance in court.