A CLAMPING company is causing chaos for motorists after muscling in on a Whitefield car park.

At least five drivers have been stung with £85 fines after parking illegally on the car park of the Brand Centre, which mysteriously closed seven weeks ago.

And members of a local bowling association have been forced to park their cars in nearby Stanley Road to avoid being clamped, which they claim is hazardous to other motorists.

Secretary of the Whitefield Park Bowling Association, Mrs Jean Fitton said: "We have been warning our members not to park on the car park after someone spotted a clamping sign a couple of weeks ago. But the alternative is to park in Stanley Road and on a busy night, there can be 20 cars or more. As well as being hazardous, it must be an awful pain for the the people who live in that road."

Mrs Fitton said that prior to the Brand Centre closing, the bowlers had an arrangement with the store and were allowed to park on the car parkas long as they did not impede the customers.

She added: "We approached them as soon as it opened and have been parking there for a long time. We are soon to have our own car park in Stanley Road park but that is not finished yet. The signs they have put up are not obvious but we have tried to warn as many people as possible about them."

One unfortunate lady who did not receive the message was Mrs Pamela Mann, whose car was clamped.

Mrs Mann, of Hilltop Avenue, Whitefield, regularly takes her 88-year-old mother to watch the bowlers in the park.

She left her car for 45 minutes and on her return, found it clamped.

Mrs Mann said: "There was a notice on the windscreen saying I would need £85 to get the clamp off. I was very upset at the time and a lady kindly telephoned the contact number for me. I do not have that sort of money on me and had to walk up to the bank for the cash. There were about five other cars in the same situation."

Mrs Mann said there was a small A4 size poster warning motorists that clamping was in operation by MGB Clamping Company Ltd, but claimed they were at least 15 feet above the ground on the wall of the Brand Centre building.

"People should be warned about this as it is not obvious to those who park there," she said.

Following inquiries by the Bury Times, MGB Clamping Company Ltd issued a statement from one of its directors, who did not wish to be named.

He said: "The contract we have is with the Brand Centre. The signs were put up six weeks ago and they are on A3 size, although we only enforced the clamping a week ago. People were warned that enforcement would be introduced by leaflets on their car windows over a two-day period after the signs went up. The reason they are positioned so high is that in the past, people have ripped them down after being clamped, claiming there was no warning sign."

Office manager for MGB, Christina Wells, who takes calls from the public wanting their cars released, added: "I have had a lot of trouble with the clamping at the Brand Centre and people have been extremely abusive to me. I can understand it is not nice being clamped. I have been done twice. But the £85 fines are legal and the size of the signs adhere to regulations. We do consult with solicitors as we want to get it right. At the end of the day, it is private land and the owner does not want people parking there."

A spokesman for Bury Council said the land was owned privately and it has no authority over the clamping situation.