Angry mother Deborah Cousins is fuming because her car was clamped by a DIY store

Mrs Cousins parked her car at the B&Q in Aylesbury and before shopping went into the town to take her daughter, Sarah, four, to the lavatory.

She said that she returned about 30 minutes later to find her car clamped.

She had to pay £53 before her vehicle was released. Deborah Cousins and her daughter Sarah

"I explained that we had gone into the town to visit the toilets and buy a newspaper and had returned to spend in the region of £150 on landscaping plants from the store," Mrs Cousins said. But she said her explanation fell on deaf ears and she had to pay.

"I was not alone in being incensed by this draconian attitude. Within the few minutes I had been away, at least six clamps had been put in place," said Mrs Cousins, of Bucknell Road, Bicester.

She complained to the store manager but without success.

Mrs Cousins said she had since been in correspondence with the store's head office at Eastleigh, Hampshire, and the clamping company to no avail.

"The store has lost £150 worth of custom and might lose more because of its attitude," Mrs Cousins said.

She said that there were signs warning of clamping but these were on poles too high up for people to notice.

A spokesman for B&Q said that while she could not comment on Mrs Cousins's complaint, the company had a general policy of clamping cars left in their car parks.

"We do allow people an hour's grace for parking before their vehicle is clamped," she said.

**Picture: Richard Cave