The clampers can be beaten. At least one Dublin motorist has not alone won a refund of his £65 fine, but was sent free parking discs worth £15 in compensation for being wrongly clamped in Donnybrook.
Mr Paul Regan, Donnybrook Road, who compares the clampers to Strongbow and the Black and Tans, returned the discs. In a strongly worded letter he told Control Plus, the clampers, and Dublin Corporation to "stick your apology".
Dublin Corporation has strongly denied claims by traffic wardens, who are themselves facing redundancy because of the clampers, that illegal clamping has taken place in the city.
The wardens were once figures of fear and loathing among the city's motorists, but their old forbearance and their new role in highlighting deficiencies in the new regime have seen them recast in a more angelic mould.
Mr Regan had his car clamped on Donnybrook Road on December 3rd. Signs showed that cars on the opposite side of the road were liable to be clamped if they were left more than an hour, but there was no sign on the side where Mr Regan's vehicle was parked.
Nonetheless, Control Plus records show that a warning notice was put on his car at 5.45 p.m., and it was clamped six minutes later.
He wrote a letter of complaint to Control Plus and received an apology from Mr Jason Ballard, general manager, two weeks later. In his reply, Mr Ballard accepted that "street signage" on Donnybrook Road was "inadequate and confusing".
He told Mr Regan he had interviewed the parking enforcement officers involved. "They stated that the street signage led them to believe that there was parking on both sides of Donnybrook Road for one hour only. I have spoken to all parking supervisors, who have now assured me that all parking enforcement officers are aware that only one side of Donnybrook Road has parking restrictions."
New street signs had been erected in the area, Mr Ballard said. "On behalf of Control Plus I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to you as a result of your vehicle being clamped and also for the delay in replying to your correspondence."
A spokeswoman for Dublin Corporation could not say how many vehicles had been clamped in the city, or how many appeals allowed since the new system came into force last July. However, she insisted there had been very few appeals compared with the number of vehicles clamped.