I FEEL bitterly sorry for Lucy Capron, having been legally mugged of £555 on her birthday by cowboy clampers (Clampers' horrid birthday gift for me, Letters, March 3).

Apart from the fact that this family lost such a large sum of money, her birthday party was surely spoiled.

A couple of weekends ago, on a Saturday, at the entrance to Flex gym in Uxbridge High Street, I witnessed a couple with two young children - the wife in tears - who obviously did not have the money to pay for release.

They had to unload the car of all their shopping, remove the child seats and carry all this away, along with children, leaving the car to the clampers to drive away.

Who decides that the signs are clear enough?

Another spot for this type of activity of clamping is at the back of Blockbuster, in Belmont Road. The signs are white with small, black writing and they are placed on a white wall and blend in nicely, to the clampers' advantage.

The landowners do not want people parking on their land, but of course the clampers do.

Surely the landowners have a moral obligation to ensure these signs are very clear to all, unless they are getting a cut of the ill-gotten gains.

The clampers always seem to want cash payment.

I would like to know if they pay tax on this money.

Who is monitoring this? It is long past time they were legislated.

Yes, if people are parking wrongly then appropriate punishment must be given, but make sure people know they are doing wrong, first by making these signs very clear. 'Stable' and 'door' spring to mind here.

Enough is enough.

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