AN UNEMPLOYED man has slammed a clamping company, claiming he and two other drivers were clamped within seconds of turning their ignition off.

Harjaswinder Gahuanian and Sunny Puniyani watched in dismay as their vehicles were clamped. They were then given an on the spot penalty of £300 each.

The incident happened in the car park of Eden House in Uxbridge Road, Hayes, last Wednesday at about 12.25pm.

Mr Gahuanian, 41 of Leamington Place, Hayes, a father-of-two, said he had just gone to 'sign on' at the Jobcentre, leaving his wife, who is eight months pregnant, to tend the car.

He said: "Just as my wife went to the driver's seat the car was clamped. They told us we would have to pay £300 on the spot.

"No average person has £300 in their pocket; it's a lot of money for a working class person to pay and at present I don't even have a job.

"While we were there we saw two other cars clamped. The men hang around there like monkeys waiting to jump on the cars."

Mr Puniyani, 25 of Minet Drive, Hayes, said: "I just switched my engine off and then I looked in the rear mirror and saw a man coming to clamp my car. It was literally done within a minute.

"And they told us we have to pay £300 there and then, otherwise they would be calling a tow truck, which will charge £1 a minute in addition to this penalty."

He explained he was there because his wife was going to register at the Jobcentre.

He said: "We just came to the country the day before, as we were living in Germany, but in Germany if you're sitting in the car they usually ask you to move your car before they clamp it."

Paul Taylor, manager at Front Line Parking, of Station Road, West Drayton, the company which provides a clamping service to Eden House, said: "Basically, if somebody is sitting in the car with the ignition on we would not clamp the car, because of health and safety concerns, as the driver could reverse the vehicle and hurt our staff.

"If someone is in the car, he or she would be asked to move the car and only if they fail to do this would we clamp the car.

"We generally get called out to the site by the owners of the premises. It is a £150 charge, but if the car has to be towed away then it's £300. We can charge the amount we do under the Government's Security Industry Authority Ruling."

Mr Taylor added that there are signs in the Eden House car park clearly telling people not to park there.