A controversial wheel-clamping firm with clients in Brighton and Hove has been banned from using official information to target drivers.
Parking Control Services (PCS) is no longer allowed to take part in a scheme that allowed access to the DVLA database of names and addresses of car owners.
The company previously used this information to try to enforce its official-looking “parking contravention charge notices” – parking tickets dished out to vehicles parked without permission on private land.
Unlike the police, councils or their contractors, such as NCP, private parking companies do not have statutory powers to enforce payment.
Parking Control Services was a member of the British Parking Association’s approved operator scheme, giving it access to the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) database.
But PCS was expelled from the scheme for breaching its code of conduct.
It counts the Hilton Brighton Metropole hotel and estate agent Stiles Harold Williams among its clients in Brighton and Hove.
Other organisations that it claims as clients and which have premises in Brighton and Hove include Network Rail, the NHS, Texaco garages and Kwik-Fit.
PCS describes itself as “a leading nationwide company in car park management, enforcement and parking products throughout the UK — 24 hours per day, 365 days per year”.
It adds: “We cover all aspects of parking control and enforcement, from on-site parking officers to mobile wheel clamping and removal units.”
Last year PCS made headlines after clamping a police car in Kent while the officer who parked it was on a call.
