A heated exchange of words between tourism officials and a car park boss has led to a new call for the banning of wheel clamping in Haworth.

The row flared after Worth Valley councillor Mike Young told Keighley and Haworth Tourism Management Group that he had received over 20 letters of complaint over wheel-clamping on car parks in Rawdon Road and Changegate.

But car park owner Ted Evans insists he will continue clamping until the tourism group or Bradford council come up with a suitable alternative to stop the cheats.

Cllr Young told the meeting at East Riddlesden Hall on Tuesday that he was 'very concerned'. "Complaints have come from all over the country," he said. "I think wheel clamping is intimidatory and threatening and even amounts to stalking. I would like to see it stopped. It is putting people off coming to Haworth."

He also told the meeting he had featured on a recent BBC Radio Lanca-shire programme after someone rang in with a complaint. "I have found myself apologising on behalf of Haworth to people from all over the country," he complained.

He said his most recent letter came from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) office in London. An employee of the CBI visited Haworth on tourism business and was wheel-clamped. "What kind of image does that present?" asked Cllr Young.

He says letters complained of car park staff being threatening and intimidating. They also said signs warning people of the £25 fines were unclear and obscured by vegetation.

Mike Hill, director of Haworth's Bront Parsonage Museum, was also critical of Mr Evans' activities, saying they were verging on objectionable. "It is harming our business and is not a contribution to tourism," he said.

He said Keighley MP Ann Cryer had called for a ban on wheel clamping and that the group should support her.

But Mr Evans was unrepentant. He told the meeting he was running a business. He used an example of a person walking into a shop and taking something worth £1.50. "If that person walked out of the shop with the item without paying then that person would be prosecuted," he said. "It is the same thing on my car parks. There are 120,000 cars a year using my car parks. People are trying to cheat and they will not get away with it."

He added that his staff record all conversations with drivers and passengers and the tapes are available to the group. "If a confrontation develops then my staff go away and come back when things have cooled," he said.

The argument was called to an end after Mr Evans said comments were becoming personal and that it should not be discussed any further.

A vote was taken after Mr Hill proposed that the group should support Ann Cryer in her campaign to have wheel-clamping banned. Six people voted for the motion and two against. There were four abstensions.

Opinion, page 10

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