Dick Turpin rides again

A firm who lifted a pensioner’s car within 10 minutes of his leaving it – and charged £334 to put it back on the ground - was today (21) named as the latest winner of the RAC Foundation’s Dick Turpin award. The award was presented by Jennie Bond as part of ITV’s Driving Me Crazy, to be shown at 9pm tonight (Tuesday).

The winner, ISTM Group Ltd, patrols estates throughout London, and is the third recipient of the infamous “Dick Turpin” award. ISTM charge over £300 for towing away, and £30 a day for storage. The Essex-registered company was picked out by UK motorists after a national search by the Royal Automobile Club Foundation to find the most unpopular clamper.

ISTM Group won the RAC Foundation Dick Turpin Award as the Foundation received more complaints about them than any other company, and because the judges felt their habit of instant towing was totally unreasonable - in one case after a mere ten minutes and in other cases without ever attaching a clamp. Despite this, release fees were levied which included a charge for de-clamping as well as towing.

Motorists who have complained about ISTM to the Foundation include:-

An electrician who was clamped while legally parked to re-wire flats on an estate patrolled by ISTM. Despite having a permit on display ISTM employees towed his truck away. He was charged £554 and threatened with arrest.

A senior citizen who had his car lifted for towing away after just ten minutes when he parked by mistake on land patrolled by ISTM. He was charged £334 to have the car lowered back onto the road.

A motorist who came home from work to find that her car had been towed away by ISTM, who had put warning signs up after she had left for the office. She had to pay £365 to retrieve her car.

A Bethnal Green motorist who was clamped in her own parking space because her tax disc was 36 hours out of date. The 81-year old motorist had been ill and was on her way to buy a new tax disc when she saw her car being clamped.

A Shepherds Bush motorist who parked in a car park, left the vehicle and returned after a short time to find the towing lorry present. The signs warning that vehicles parking without permission would be clamped were hidden behind two large vans. She had to pay £365.00 to retrieve her car.

The law in England and Wales sets no limits on release fees, nor minimum periods before which a car or van may be towed away. Once in possession of their licence from the Security Industry Authority, clampers can legally charge any amount they can get away with. Often operating from PO Box addresses and using mobile phones, cowboy clampers show little mercy or compassion to their victims.

In Scotland, wheel clamping on private land was banned overnight following a court case in 1992, when judges declared it to be nothing more than “extortion and theft.” A campaign by the Royal Automobile Club Foundation led the Government to establish a new authority to license the practice of wheel clamping on private land. However, the legislation establishing the Security Industry Authority did not include a legally enforceable code of practice, nor an independent tribunal to assist motorists who believe they have been clamped unfairly.

The RAC Foundation has been inundated with reports of outrageous behaviour by clampers from across England and Wales. A dossier will be presented to the new Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly MP to demonstrate the urgent need to bring private clamping under the same regulatory regime as clamping by councils: only last week, Ms Kelly issued instructions to councils to cease using wheel-clamping as a source of revenue.

Edmund King, Executive Director of the Royal Automobile Club Foundation, said: “ISTM Group have won the RAC Foundation Dick Turpin Award because the Foundation received more complaints about them than any other company, and because the judges felt their habit of instant towing was totally unreasonable. In one case, ISTM staff towed a car a mere ten minutes after it was parked, while other motorists reported that their cars had not been clamped before being lifted onto the truck. Despite this, release fees were levied which included charges for de-clamping as well as towing.

“There is huge concern amongst many motorists who feel they have no rights and no alternative but to pay large sums of money when they have parked in good faith.

"Motorists should not park on private land but often clampers encourage parking by leaving decoy cars or by hiding signs. Many clampers are just out to fleece the motorist.

“Cowboy clampers have been getting away with legalised mugging for too long. We hope that this award will help all clampers reflect on their tactics and perhaps offer more goodwill to motorists in the future. For the third year running no award has been made to the “clamper with a heart” as no nominations were received in this category.”