FURIOUS motorists have had to fork out almost £300 each after wheel clampers impounded their cars after parking in a Worcester car park.

One angry victim called the act "highway robbery" after clampers swooped on unsuspecting drivers who left cars in Courts car park, Lowesmoor, on Sunday and then charged a £295 recovery fee.

"The way it was done was so underhand," said Gary Price, of Drovers Way, Worcester, who parked there at lunchtime.

"You used to be able to park there on Sundays, but signs warning about clamping were apparently put up on Friday night. I didn't see them."

On returning to his car, Mr Price found it had been clamped, but not yet removed.

He said a woman representing the clampers, Rowencroft Immobilisers, of Worcester, was sitting in an unmarked car waiting for people to park.

He called his sister and waited until she brought him the £295 he was told it would cost to have the clamp removed.

"In the hour I was there, another 10 cars were clamped. There were five people waiting for their cars to be unclamped or brought back and one girl was crying," he said.

"It was only afterwards that I read the notice, which said the charge was £95 for getting the vehicle back if it had been towed away.

"Mine had not been removed, but I was still charged the full amount."

Adam Weston, aged 17, of Warndon Villages, Worcester, parked there on Sunday evening and thought his Daihatsu jeep had been stolen when he returned to the car park to find it missing.

His father, Neville, who paid the recovery fee for him, said: "He was devastated. There was no warning about wheel clamping at the entrance to the car park and the signs were

all in recessed and badly lit areas."

One man who would not give his name for fear of recriminations said: "Last night I was subjected to a highway robbery.

"My gripe is that I was charged an unreasonable fee to have my car returned from the pound."

A spokesman for clampers Rowencroft Immobilisers yesterday said she was not prepared to comment on a bank holiday.