IF YOU DON'T HAVE A TICKET...

He might not be the most popular guy on campus. But Alan Markwell, the man in charge of clamping cars at the Harrow Campus, says the constant insults do not bother him. Here he tells STAFFAN THORSELL his side of the story.

With an almost automatic turn of a lever and a swift turn of a screw, the massive block of yellow metal scrapes against the asphalt and clicks into place. What has taken just under three minutes will probably thrust another Harrow campus student into a fit of rage over not being able to leave campus and has earned clamping man, Alan Markwell £5.

But to Mr Markwell, is it very simple. The owner of the car had not displayed a ticket and will therefore get clamped.

“I don’t see the problem,” he says. “People constantly complain about being clamped. But if I can’t see a valid ticket, there’s no question about what I will do.”

Despite his ‘tough guy’ look, with tattoos and strong London accent, Mr Markwell says he is insulted all the time, and sometimes even worse.

“One guy tried to sort me not so long ago. I was in the car park by the main entrance and had just clamped a car. The guy who owned it came over and said he had a ticket. But he couldn’t show me a ticket so I got in the van. He reached in and tried to pull the car keys out to stop me from leaving. I had to bend his arm off to get on with my job.”

He swerves around the corner, parks alongside the pavement and starts his walking inspection around the car park. He checks every car. Moving quickly and confidently between cars, he peeks into every window, reads the dates and the times on the tickets sometimes displayed in the windows and takes notes.

“I do this every time I’m here,” he says. “It’s not as if I just walk up to a car and clamp it. If I see a car without a valid ticket, I write down the registration number and the time. I then have to get Peter James (Harrow campus Site Services Manager). He then has to come out and double-check the information and if there’s still no ticket, I clamp the car.”

Mr. Markwell says this process takes at least 30 minutes, but often as long as 45 minutes and he says this gives anyone who might have run off to get change for the parking meter plenty of time to arrange a ticket.

Looking genuinely weary, Mr Markwell shrugs his shoulders and says: “Look at this car over here.” With firm steps he walks over to a car with only the “pay and display” part of the ticket visible.

“This guy has folded the ticket and stuck the date and time underneath so you can’t see it. He will probably get clamped. Now, you can be sure that he will blatantly argue tonight that he had a ticket. People keep putting their ticket up so you can’t see the date and time, then get a mate’s ticket to show me.”

The constant arguing is the worst part of the job, Mr Markwell says. He says he doesn’t like the rain but otherwise being outside is a nice part of the job.

He nods as if he is insinuating something, laughs heartedly and says: “You probably don’t want to know what I think about the students here. But honestly, many are alright. I had this guy this morning who had got clamped. He just said ‘fair enough, I was late’ and he was fine about it. That does happen.”

He adds: “But the arguing doesn’t work. If you don’t have a ticket, you don’t have a ticket.”