Three tickets - and you're clamped

Motorists who clock up just three unpaid parking tickets could find themselves clamped anywhere in the country.

Parking attendants are to be issued with computers with access to a national register of persistent offenders.

But critics fear the unreliability of the DVLA database will lead to thousands of cars being incorrectly clamped.

The plans are contained in the Traffic Management Act, which comes into force this year.

Ministers want to extend the current database, which covers London, to the rest of England.

The move follows a report by the Government last July which said wheel clamping should be used only for the most persistent offenders.

Labour ministers claim they want parking enforcement to be "fairer". They say councils should use their powers to keep traffic flowing - not to raise money.

Parking costs have soared by 82 per cent in England since 1997, with councils raising £1.2billion a year.

The Commons Transport Select Committee has called the current system "seriously flawed" and "a mess".