A FAMILY was left stunned when clampers demanded nearly £600 to release their car for a ticket they had no knowledge of.
Teacher Claire Macdonald, 38, of Mallards Road, Woodford Green, said the first she knew of her parking ticket, which clampers told her was issued in April, was when she discovered the car had been clamped at 6am yesterday (Tuesday).
“My sister, who was staying over, was going to work and saw two guys scurrying away,” she said. “I waited until the kids had gone to school and phoned the company.
“They said it was for not paying a parking ticket for a fine in April, and I didn’t even know about it.
“It was the day of the Royal Wedding. I was not driving the vehicle that day, but I know there was not a ticket on it.
“They’ve just come round one morning in the cover of darkness and clamped my vehicle.”
The clampers told Mrs Macdonald they were council contractors acting on orders from Northampton County Court given because the original fine was unpaid.
They ramped up the fine from £575 to £595 because Mrs Macdonald had to pay with her credit card and arrived later in the morning to take the payment and release the car.
“If I’d had correspondence about it, I’d have dealt with it since then,” she added. “It’s come out of nowhere.
“It’s just ridiculous for a £55 fine to suddenly be nearly £600.”
Her husband, Andrew Macdonald, 41, is appealing the fine.
“It’s absolutely appalling,” he said. “They told us it was for Madeira Grove, but from memory, I parked on Snakes Lane East that day.
“We’ve not moved house recently, so we’re completely at a loss as to why we weren’t written to.”
A Redbridge Council spokeswoman said: “Parking in the borough is managed on a fair and consistent basis.
“Enforcement is carried out in line with regulation governing parking enforcement.
“A penalty charge notice (PCN) was issued on 29 April 2011.
“No representation was made against the PCN and no payment was received despite several reminders.
“Correspondence relating to the PCN was sent out in June, July and September to the address where the vehicle is registered.
“No responses were received and therefore a warrant of execution was issued which eventually resulted in the action taken.”
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