Fury erupted when a Wokingham mother was ordered to hand over more then £385 after she was clamped for parking outside a Winnersh takeaway.

Traders operating at the small shopping parade in Reading Road reacted angrily when the woman’s silver BMW was clamped for parking outside the Rangamati Bangladeshi and Indian Cuisine on Wednesday, June 24.

The distraught mother, who was with her young son at the time of the incident and asked not to be named, was visiting Be Smart Dry Cleaners when the team from Trinity Parking Solutions made their move.

She explained how she had only been in the shop a matter of minutes.

“I had all the suits ready in my hand and as I left the shop I could see these two men standing by my car,” she said.

“I kept shouting ‘that’s my car’ thinking that I had got a ticket, but then I saw they had put a clamp on my car.

“I offered to pay the £130 clamp release fee but they told me I had to pay £385 because a tow truck was on its way to collect the car.

“I had only been in the dry cleaners for literally two minutes.

“It’s disgusting, it really is.”

Shopkeepers are furious the owner of the takeaway has imposed strict parking restrictions on three spaces outside his business while parking in the rest of the parade is free and uncontested.

Anyone who parks within these parking spaces and is not visiting the takeaway will be clamped and asked to pay £385 to have it released.

Those who fall foul of the clampers must pay a £130 release fee and a further £255 to cover the cost of a tow truck immediately called out after a vehicle is clamped.

The situation last week got so heated that police officers were called to the scene, but they were unable to take action as the incident is classed as a civil matter.

The mother made the required payment and her car was released.

It is understood she will appeal the decision, but traders along Reading Road believe the punishment for drivers who park outside the takeaway could have a dramatic effect on the number of customers visiting the parade.

Paul Sadoo owns Be Smart Dry Cleaners and offered to pay half the clamping fee as a gesture of goodwill, but his offer was turned down by the driver.

He said: “I’m not stopping his customers so why is he stopping my customers when he is not even trading at that time of day].

“She was literally two minutes collecting her items when these two guys rolled up and said they had ordered a tow truck.

“To pay £385 is ridiculous and we offered to pay half because we felt bad because she was our customer.

“But the signs about this clamping is just inside his own shop, which is not right.”

Jann Coker, who is salon director at WKD hair and beauty, added: “This will just upset everybody’s customers and is so unnecessary.

“I’m just horrified about how this might develop.

“Local businesses like this are just trying to work together to make a living and he goes along and does something like this.

“We offer free parking and have never had a problem like this before. All his customers park outside our shops in the evening.

“I could do the whole clamping in the evenings thing but I don’t want to.

“It just does not pay to do that.”

David Wright, general manager at Trinity Parking Solutions, explained how the team was working in accordance with the terms of parking outside Rangamati.

He told The Wokingham Times how it is the landowner’s discretion to decide how those who illegally park are punished and that the release fees imposed on drivers vary from site to site.

No-one from Rangamati restaurant was available for comment at the time of going to press.

Have you been clamped? Call Lewis Rudd on (0118) 9183023 email editorial@wokingham-times.co.uk

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