This morning I got word from my local councillor, Paul Dimoldenberg, that my recent car clamping drama had resulted in a likely future change in policy.

I'm still awaiting more details and will update this post, but basically it seems a new grace period will be introduced on my estate (and possibly others in Westminster) to avoid the situation where a resident has their car clamped within days of their permit expiring.

Regular readers of my Twitterings will know I had my car clamped on April 1st, just one day after my permit expired on March 31st. Incensed after a similar incident a year ago I went on a mission. As I pointed out to Paul...

I think it's easy to forget that the whole point of clamping is to ensure residents can have access to their parking spots. My car was in my parking spot, and was trapped, unable to go anywhere.

Fortunately I found a conscientious ally in the fight for common sense in Mr Dimoldenberg. He followed up the matter resulting in the following response from the contractor...

In trying to resolve this and taking on board your comments about the objective of parking control on the estate, we could take on board the grace period suggestion and look to implement for next year's renewal timetable

A rare victory for common sense!