5:20pm Thursday 18th March 2010
By Amie Mulderrig
An elderly couple from Abbots Langley say they had their evening “ruined” after their car was clamped in a Watford car park.
Pensioners Peter and Joan Sanders had been enjoying a performance of Noel Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, as part of a relative’s birthday, on Friday, February 26.
They had parked their car in a T J Hughes car park, based near Clarendon Road, and on their return from the show found that their vehicle had been clamped. The couple say they displayed a ticket which covered them until 7am the next day.
However, clamping company Controlled Parking Services (CPS) says the couple’s ticket was face down so it was impossible for its employees to decipher whether or not the ticket was valid.
CPS says all vehicles are photographed when they are clamped and says it has a digital image which proves Mr and Mrs Sanders’ ticket could not be checked.
Mr Sanders, 82, a former parish councillor, of The Crescent, explained: “It was Joan’s sister’s birthday so we decided to go out and see a show at the Watford Palace Theatre.
“We parked in the T J Hughes car park, paid £3 for a ticket – which covered parking the car there until seven o’clock the following morning – and displayed it on the dashboard.
“We thought we had legitimately parked and paid to do so.”
Mrs Sanders, 82, a former nurse, said: “Luckily one of our party had a mobile phone on them to call the company to remove the clamps otherwise we would have been out in the cold all night.
“When two employees from CPS turned up, they demanded £125 to release our car – providing we paid in cash – or it would be £130 to pay by card.
“Peter showed that our ticket was still valid but the employee said we hadn’t displayed it correctly.
“But as far as we’re concerned, it was on the dashboard and showed the date and time the ticket was valid until.” The couple have contacted T J Hughes to dispute the charge, which advised them to contact CPS as the company “manages the car park”.
They claim they wrote to the company about a week ago but CPS, which operates a 21-day appeals process, says, as yet, it has received no written complaint or appeal.
Mrs Sanders said: “It ruined what was supposed to be a celebration and was a terrible end to the evening.”
Mr Sanders added: “We would like to get our money back – £125 isn’t a small amount, especially at our age – but if anything we’d like to warn Watford Observer readers, be wary of that car park.”
T J Hughes spokeswoman Michelle Begley said: “The car park is private land and managed on our behalf by CPS.
“We understand that the car park management company is currently talking to the customers to resolve this matter.”
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