People have had to pay £125 to have their vehicles unclamped in the Tideswell Road car park for customers shopping at Iceland, Stone Carpets, Fusion and Impact Gaming.

They say parking bays in the car park are not clearly marked and there is poor signage.

On Monday afternoon 25-year-old Lucy Lyddiatt parked her car in a bay while she shopped in Iceland, but when she got back to her car she found she had been clamped.

Clamping firm Security Corps Ltd Estates Management and Protection Services told Lucy she had parked in the wrong space, placed two clamps on her car and refused to release them until she had paid £125.

"It's absolutely ridiculous down there," said Lucy. "It is not clear at all about where customers can park and where they can't. I produced my Iceland receipt and the clamper said I had not parked in an Iceland bay, but it doesn't make it clear anywhere which bays belong to which shops."

Lucy, who said the clamper told her to stop when she took photos of the scene, is now appealing to the company and plans to pursue the case through the civil courts.

Another shopper, Karene Deacon, was clamped in the car park when she went into Stone Carpets to buy some carpets and Iceland for food shopping.

She was shopping for just over an hour and when she returned to her car, discovered it had been clamped.

Karene, 49, was told she had been clamped because her was parked in one of three private bays, instead of the bays allocated to the customers of the shops.

Karene said the sign for the bay where she parked was not clearly visible and misleading.

"It just seems like a scam to me.

"Someone sits in a van around the corner, and as soon as you walk away from your vehicle they get out and clamp you.

"It was a Thursday afternoon and I needed to get back to school to pick up my son. I ended up in tears."

Last week Linda Pindard was clamped for parking in a bay which was not allocated to Stone Carpets and had to hand over £125 to get her vehicle released.

"It's very, very confusing and the signs are just not clear," said Linda. "I had to pay because I needed my car back but I am appealing."

Old Town resident Nevada Smith is also appealing for a refund after her car was clamped for parking in the wrong space.

"I was shopping in Iceland and came out to find I had been clamped," said Nevada.

"Apparently I had parked in the wrong space but the signs are not clear — it is not clear why you may be clamped and parking areas are not clearly defined in any way.

"The whole experience was extremely upsetting, annoying and intimidating, especially with two young children and bags of frozen food.

"I don't want to see other people falling into the same trap."

The Herald attempted to contact Stephen Stewart-Turner from Security Corps Ltd Estates Management and Protection Services by phone and e-mail, but nothing was forthcoming by the time of publication.

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