Motorists ticketed by Peter Del Grosso say they won't pay parking charges

MOTORISTS given parking tickets by a former car clamper say they will call his bluff and refuse to pay up.

As the Mail reported last week, Peter Del Grosso has turned to ticketing after clamping was outlawed in England last October.

Several motorists, who have found fine notices issued by Auto Security Limited left on their cars, have now ripped them up.

Solicitor David Barton – one of the country's leading authorities in motoring law – believes it is doubtful Del Grosso would ever take motorists to court.

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Mr Barton said: "The parking company, acting on behalf of the landowner, would have to specify the basis of claim.

"They would have to prove to a court that a contract existed between the motorist and the owner of that land or they would have to prove they are entitled to damages for trespass.

"In any case, even if a contract did, in legal terms, exist, I believe the defendant would be able to claim the fee being asked for, in this case £100 or £60 if paid within 14 days, renders it void because, in my view, it breaches the principles enshrined in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

"It seems unlikely to me a company would take this to court, because if they lost, it would open the floodgates and incur considerable costs."

Debra Bruin, a Beverley business owner, caught a man ticketing her car, which was parked near Harpers fish and chip shop in Lairgate, Beverley.

She said: "I recognised Del Grosso straightaway.

"I said to him, 'You're not that awful clamper man are you?'

"He was very polite and replied, 'Ooh, I hope not'.

"I am certain it was him. I am ripping up the notice."

In November 2011, Del Grosso was convicted by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court of racially aggravated harassment. Del Grosso, who was then working for Vehicle Management Limited, launched a tirade of abuse against a Turkish man who had accompanied his partner and her sister to a back-street Hull compound to collect a car that had been clamped.

Del Grosso was given a 40-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and 250 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Despite his conviction, Auto Security Limited, which Del Grosso was appointed a director of in October, was granted membership of the British Parking Association in December. This accreditation enables Auto Security Limited to gain access to personal information of drivers kept by the DVLA.

The Mail has made repeated attempts to contact Del Grosso or a representative of Auto Security Limited, without success.