Pilots and stewardesses caught in parking blitz
 

A clamping company has enraged staff at Manchester Airport - by blitzing their car parks, according to the M.E.N. Furious pilot arrives with high powered cutting equipment to free his wife's vehicle. Good on you - Staff Wales strikes again. :mad:

I'm debating starting a company (well, you all heard about Gill jobs) that goes around car parks with high-powered cutting equipment to free cars from clamps. The remains will be left there for them to find, with a note explaining what has happened. If they then sue me, so be it. I think I am right in saying that in all the test cases so far, no private firm of clampers has ever won in court when clamping cars on private property.

In Scotland private clamping was outlawed several years ago. It was deemed as "demanding money with menaces"! Overnight all the private clampers went bust. I'm amazed it is still legal in England and Wales. What is even more amazing is that private clampers can "remove" your car! In my book this is theft or "taking a vehicle without an owners consent."

The only problem with cutting a clamp off is you could find yourself being charged with criminal damage. If you removed it without damaging it, the clampers don't have a leg to stand on.

The same clamping company at MAN has put its warning signs in places where it is impossible to read them without parking illegally !

I got a small grubby note in my crew file recently to the effect that, "provided my vehicle was displaying a valid sticker for that particular car park and provided the vehicle was parked in a marked bay, I should be fire proof" Only time will tell on this one.
I do agree that clamping either on public or private land then requiring cash to release the vehicle, is surely "Demanding Money With Menaces". What do BALPA have to say on this, answers please from 81 New Road.
A suggestion though, if you are unlucky enough to have a problem with the car park, do not negotiate with the clamping company. This is between us and Manchester Airport Authority only, despite what they might say.

Have noticed that crew (flight deck and cabin) think that they are "above the law" when it comes to parking. Clamp 'em tight, I say, or better yet, tow 'em away with a very big impound fee.
OR----these crew could contract with a company (Bill the Coach, comes to mind) for transport to the airport. Regular staff can use the train, or the bus.

The point is - these VICTIMS do not think they are above the law! They are merely trying to do their jobs, occasionally it will be necessary to park a loan car in the staff car park - what is so criminal about that? To find the vehicle you are using clamped after a long days work IS CRIMINAL!

By the way 411A, I note you are an American, so what would you know about parking in the United Kingdom?

Got to agree, I've occasionally had to use other cars to work at MAN and luckily haven't been clamped. It is a disgrace that MAPLC allow this to happen and in the current climate when people are worried enough about their jobs this is an additional unnecessary stress.

411A, you're a pr*ck who obviously knows nothing about the problems at Manchester Airport (That's in the UK for your info!). The car-parking problems in Staff Wales are a regular topic on this site, so take the hint, the problems are bigger than you can imagine. Stick to what you actually know about. :p

How in god's name can anybody park illegally in Staff West. WE HAVE TO USE A PASS CARD TO GAIN ENTRY IN THE FIRST PLACE!! I considered thinking about this long and hard but thought sod it, I know a couple of solicitors who would love to destroy these clamping b**tards.

I agree that clampers of legally parked vehicles should be shot.

Those lobbing grenades at 411A should be made aware that he has been based in Manchester and is thus qualified to talk about driving in the UK , oh and MAN!!

And unpopular though I may be for saying so some aircrew, and particularly some pilots, DO think themselves above the rules that ordinary folk have to abide by. I mentioned to a pilot, in uniform, who was about to leave his car unattended in Tower Rd at MAN only recently that he could not leave his car there. To be fair he probably didn't know because where he parked, the solid roof of his Beemer was obscuring his view of the BL***Y great sign that says words to the effect of no unattended vehicles etc etc drone drone drone. His response was, "But I'm a pilot and I work for XXX Airlines"

Sorry guys, but you have to admit that this is not the right attitude especially in the heightened security state that most airports are at just now.

In defense of pilots, only a few think this way, but thay aren't newsworthy are they?

Doc C.

[ 04 October 2001: Message edited by: Doctor Cruces ]

[ 04 October 2001: Message edited by: Doctor Cruces ]

Sorry, Dr. C, but 411A is behaving like a total pr*ck yet again. And can you explain how clamping "strange" cars after they have been parked and their (therefore suspect) drivers have, presumably, departed for the terminal is supposed to help the security of a flight?

I've got one.
Apparently the guy that was doing the clamping,had a list of cars that were legally entitled to park in the car park,from the MA car parks office,and carried on regardless.
Out of the 15 cars clamped,in the railway station,only one was ineligable to park there.
Smacks of another MAPLC instant get rich quick scheme.

Now, I want you all to keep this method secret:

(1) Jack up your car, (2) deflate the tyre in question, (3) lever the clamp off, (4) replace wheel with the spare.

Dispose of clamp in suitable river or lake whilst driving home.

Harry Erman
Nice one but may i suggest that maybe before(1) and definatly before (2) you check the spares inflated.Makes the next bit a little easier!! ;)

Alternatively, in true Blue Peter meets Viz comic style;

1) Buy/make yourself four wheel clamps.
2) Spray paint in your airline's colour scheme.
3) Afix flightbag fleet stickers to each just to prove you are an antagonistic pilot or have an ego problem.

Hey presto! The latest fashion accessory for your car, which can even be kept in that passe Ski roof box you leave on the roof all year to wind up the neighbours.

Park where you like, preferably where they can't lift it away.

Come along chaps, aren't we all getting a little serious? Don't let the B*****ds get you down!

Fortunately I come to work at MAN by air, although with Sabena almost clamped yesterday who knows where it will end.

Good luck and apologies to Relaint Robin drivers everwhere.

This has always been a problem at UK airports. Some years ago Glasgow airport reduced the size of the staff car parks making them incapable of coping with the capacity of staff cars. But when anybody double-parked they got threatened with a fine, even though there were no other spaces made available anywhere else in the airport that didn't have yellow lines. Then they made a new staff car park with all sorts of assurances that 24 hour staff would be present to stop car thieves stewardess molesters. within a month the new park was unattended with car break-ins and girls being approached by wierdoes.
Hugmonster..I presume you're ex-Gill air. My sympathies as an Ex-Gill driver myself.
If you set up a business cutting clamps..make sure you spend about £30 in Exchange & Mart to become registered as a "limited company"..then it make's it harder for them to sue you.

Good Luck to you and your ex-colleagues.

Careful, men!

Cutting off the clamp is Criminal Damage. If convicted,a hefty fine, and compensation and costs. Oh, and a criminal record.

Fiddling the clamp off and throwing it away is theft. A conviction for theft is not the perfect adornment to your CV, particularly if you need foreign visas and the like.

Find another way round your problem - don't put yourself at risk. :eek:

JPJ - only joking about the river, anyway the fish hate them.

How about removing the clamp and leaving it neat and tidy, where you found it, for the owner.

No damage, no theft, no jail!

(P.S. forgot to mention that you may need a long thin screwdriver/knitting needle to depress the valve pin and release the air!)

I read this sometime ago on the Honest John Motoring site of the Daily Telegraph.

Offer to pay the clampers with a cheque but do not offer a cheque card. If they accept and release your car, swiftly cancel the cheque. If, as is more likely, they do not accept, call the local constabulary. You have made an offer to pay their fee but they are refusing to release your car. In effect they are illegally holding you car.

Apparently it works.

You can also cut off the padlock, if it's that sort of clamp. That way, the only damage for which you can be held liable is for 80 pence-worth of hardware. Offer them a quid to replace it and away you go!!