A man who was cleared of criminal damage after removing a clamp from his car in Haworth today pledged to return to the village.

But Peter Cartner said he and his wife Joyce will never feel the same again about visiting the Bronte shrine.

Mr Cartner was cleared by Bradford magistrates of criminal damage when he used a crowbar to free his vehicle from a wheelclamp. His Ford Escort had been clamped in the car park of the Black Bull pub in the village.

But 56-year-old Mr Cartner, of Middleton near Manches-ter, believed the clampers - Carstoppers of Haworth - had "trespassed" on his property.

And magistrates agreed that despite the warning signs, he had not "consented to the risk" of being clamped.

Mr Cartner claimed he knew the pub landlord and he would have allowed him to stay. The landlord he knew had actually left the pub.

Today Mr Carter, secretary of the Military Vehicle Trust, said he would return to Haworth for the 1940s wartime weekend on May 10 and 11.

At the time of the clamping incident he had been in the village looking for locations to take photographs.

He said: "It was an ordeal, but I convinced the magistrate I was right.

"I intend to go back to Haworth but it has tarnished my feeling for the place."

His wife Joyce, who was with him at the time, said: "We'll be returning to Haworth - but we'll know where to park."

The Government has just introduced new rules which demand that wheel clampers working on private land must have a licence and be properly trained. There is no suggestion that Carstoppers was behaving illegally.

Ted Evans, who owns two car parks in Haworth where CarStoppers operates, said the magistrates' ruling would not impact on how his car parks were run.

"The public using the car parks and seeing the signs informing them they will be clamped are effectively agreeing to a contract which says that if they park and pay and stay beyond their time, they can be clamped," he said.