Tourist leaders have attacked car park boss Ted Evans over his policy of clamping visitors on his Rawdon Road and Changegate car parks. Some traders and tourist organisations claim Mr Evans is putting-off people visiting the world-famous home of the Bronte family.

But visitors to the town on Tuesday defended his right to penalise people who failed to pay or excessively over-stayed their time.

Disabled pensioners Elizabeth James and Joan Sullivan, visiting from Kettering, paid £25 for the release of their Ford Fiesta.

"We saw the sign and went across the road to see if the shop was open," says Miss James, who is staying for a week at Cononley. "We went in and forgot about paying the fee. We are honest people - we genuinely forgot.

"I am a bit cross, but we broke the rules and we have paid the fee," she says.

Kate Linford from Keighley, visiting with family from Harrogate, said they had paid £1.20 for two hours and they would make sure they were back in time.

"I think it is mean to clamp, but if you go over the time you should have to pay. There are plenty of signs for people to see the rates."

Pensioners Barbara and John Mawson were visiting Haworth from Leeds and paid £1.20 for two hours. "I saw the sign about the fees but didn't notice the clamping warning at the bottom," says Mrs Mawson. "But we would not take the chance and overstay anyway.

"I don't think people should get away with not paying the right amount, but I disagree with clamping. There should be some other way of penalising people."

Mr Evans has defended his policy, which has sparked a hostile reaction in recent years. He has been running the car parks since the early 1980s, having reclaimed the derelict land in Rawdon Road.

He hit back at tourist bosses' claims that it was having an impact on the number of visitors.

About 120,000 cars a year used his car parks and he had recorded an increase of 30 percent recently, he said.

The wheel clamping policy has sparked a hostile reaction from tourism leaders, and the Keighley News has received numerous complaints over a number of years from disgruntled drivers.

All have been wheelclamped after overstaying their time, and a number have been disabled people. There is no dispensation for disabled people on Mr Evans' car parks.

Heated words were exchanged over the policy at last week's Keighley and Haworth Tourism Management Group meeting, where Worth Valley Councillor Mike Young said he had got 20 letters of complaint.

Mr Evans has been criticised by Mike Hill, director of the Bront Parsonage Museum, and Keighley MP Ann Cryer is calling for a ban on wheel clamping.

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