CLAMPERS employed to police the Western Service Yard in the centre of Newton Abbot have been accused by retailers of being rude, aggressive and overzealous. Employees of Clarks Shoe shop and Curry's Digital, who have both had cars clamped, have said the system is unfair. The Clark's employee, who asked not to be named, said that a member of staff had her car clamped in the one-and-a-half minutes it took to run into the shop to collect the parking permit and return to her car outside. In order to free her car, she was forced to pay £70. In a second incident last week, the area manager's car was clamped even though it was displaying a parking permit – because it was on the wrong side of the windscreen. 'They clamped her car saying they didn't see the permit. It was totally visible. It should be by the tax disc, but it was on the driver's side of the dashboard.' The car was eventually released after the shop contacted Stuart Polhill, the Market Walk shopping centre manager. The employee said the system is unfair as some drivers appear to be able to buck the system. 'We have two cars that park all day every day that apparently belong to someone in the Martial Arts place. We've got staff who pay £4 a day to park.' She added that the car clampers refuse to give their telephone number and aggrieved motorists have to write in to complain. 'They are not nice people. They don't give you a chance to explain, they are really aggressive. About six or seven got clamped yesterday. They were on a mission to clamp.' The employee from Curry's Digital, who also wished to remain anonymous, had his car clamped at the end of the working day while he was loading up goods to deliver to customers. 'The car was only released after we spoke to the centre manager, who authorised them to remove the clamp.' Mr Polhill, who manages Market Walk and the Western and Eastern Service Yards on behalf of landlord Finford Management Limited, claimed that there was a 'firm but fair system'. He said the incident involving Clark's area manager's car was a 'simple misunderstanding' which had been sorted out. He said that Curry's Digital was not one of their tenants, but that shops were allowed to receive deliveries from the yard. He said the clamping policy was introduced four years ago and that the area is clearly signed. He was satisfied with the way the clamping company was carrying out its duties. 'They are not on the site every day, every week, they come down to do monthly checks, to oil the machine. 'Unfortunately, when people do get clamped the majority are taking a chance and abusing the area and shouldn't be there in the first place. 'Clamping hasn't got the best image, but people that aren't authorised who use the service area and park do cause a major logistical problem.'
