Clampers swoop twice in 24 hours

FOR former company director Phyllis Edwards, it was the last straw when she was clamped twice in 24 hours, especially as she claims she was correctly parked.

In both instances – on Monday and Tuesday morning – Ms Edwards, 53, who cares for a ­mother with dementia, had to wait several hours for her Nissan to be unclamped at the parking bay outside her home in Clephane Road on Canonbury’s Marquess estate.

Ms Edwards, who missed a Tuesday hospital app­ointment for her mother, said that, al­though she did not have to pay to be unclamped, there was no explanation from the clampers, or an apology.

She added: “On Monday, a neighbour warned me that my car had been clamped at 7am. I rang and complained, but I had to wait three hours for the device to be removed. 

“Then on Tuesday my car was clamped again outside my house and I waited almost two hours, missing an appointment for my mother at the Whittington Hospital. The wheelclamp men hardly spoke to me, let alone apologised.”

The double clamping has come at a time when Ms Edwards is struggling to get her life back on course after being declared bankrupt.

She began her working life as a cleaning lady, becoming head of the cleaning department for a leading London hotel before starting a cleaning company employing dozens of staff.

But her fortunes changed last year when she lost everything after she broke up with a partner. She said: “I understand these parking firms have a job to do, but they are targeting the most vulnerable people. Life is difficult enough today for a lot of people. There’s no need to add more upset and pain.”

She is the latest distressed motorist to enlist the help of Canonbury Conservative Town Hall candidate Oriel Hutchinson, whose speciality is taking up cases of people who claim they are unfairly targeted by parking firms.

Last November, Ms Hutchinson advised TV actress Linda Robson, whose elderly stepfather was being “harassed and upset” by bailiffs working on behalf of Transport for London over an alleged non-payment of congestion fines. TfL later admitted mistakes had been made. The clampers who targeted Ms Edwards do not work for Islington Council or Homes for Islington and are believed to have been employed by another north London borough. 

Ms Hutchinson said: “It’s awful to be targeted like this over two days. Phyllis deserves a full apology and compensation.”