Man with criminal record works for car clamp firm
Andrew Brightwell
A FIRM dubbed the Dick Turpin of car clampers has admitted employing a man with
a criminal record to dish out parking tickets in Highgate.
Vehicle Clamping Securities (VCS), based in Swains Lane, Highgate, is one of the
biggest private clamping firms in the UK and enforces parking on the private
Holly Lodge estate.
New laws that came into force today say that staff who work for clamping firms
must be licensed.
Costas Constantinou, company secretary of VCS, said all but one of his employees
had gained the new licence.
He admitted that the man was now employed to put penalty notices on cars parked
incorrectly in Highgate.
Mr Constantinou said: "I'm pleased to say there was only one guy who was turned
down.
"He is now doing our PCN service, which is issuing penalty charges, but not
clamping.
"He has got a problem with a criminal record, but he is appealing to the
Security Industry Authority.
"It was over a public order offence, a minor one. He is a good guy; it is just
that he did something six years ago, that he shouldn't have done."
The licences are issued by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
Clampers must sit an SIA training course and pass exams to qualify for the
licence and agree to a criminal record check.
The new laws forbid firms from clamping, towing or obstructing a vehicle if a
valid disabled badge is displayed or if it is a marked emergency service vehicle
such as an ambulance or police car.
Any licensed clamper who collects a release fee must provide a receipt, which
must include the following:
l The location where the vehicle was clamped or towed.
l Their own name and signature.
l Their licence number.
l The date.
VCS won the RAC Foundation's Dick Turpin Award earlier this year for being the
least popular clamper in the country, and was reported to have charged £423 to
clamp and tow away a car.
Mr Constantinou claimed his firm charges £125 plus VAT to remove a clamp and
£35-a-day for vehicle storage.
Last year the Ham&High reported that Mr Constantinou's firm refunded £175 to
Royal Free Hospital midwife Jean Waldman, who had been helping a friend move
home on the Holly Lodge Estate in Highgate, when her car was towed away without
her knowing.
Pippa Rothenberg, secretary of the Holly Lodge Estate Committee, which manages
the 300-acre private estate on behalf of residents, said: "I am glad to hear
that VCS has got licensed clampers. It was our intention to contact them and
check that they had done this.
"But we would certainly prefer it if Mr Constantinou did not employ someone with
a criminal record."
Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said the regulations
would help stamp out rogue elements in the trades, but argued that the laws were
still too weak.
He said: "This shows that there are still loopholes that need to be tightened
up.
"I don't think it is in anyone's interest to have someone out there with a
criminal record."
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