SHOPPERS are outraged at the hard-line tactics used to stop people parking in Okehampton's Red Lion Yard after they were faced with 'extortionate' fines.

But shopkeepers say the move by the landowner was necessary to stop people clogging up parking space for Red Lion Yard tenants, traders, delivery and emergency vehicles.

The privately owned location, which is being patrolled by a security firm, has attracted a police presence and crowds over the past week as incensed shoppers refused to pay the £60 fine to free their car wheels from the clamps.

Okehampton has been dubbed 'horror town' by one shopper, and drivers who claim the action is 'unreasonable' have vowed never to shop in the town again.

Jayne Warren from South Zeal, who had been collecting a flower arrangement for a friend's wedding from Heather's Florist, staged a four and a half hour sit-in when she found a clamp on her wheel and eventually took drastic measures to escape by deflating the tyre.

She said she had stopped opposite the side entrance to Red Lion Yard for literally two minutes.

'Because it was windy, the arrangement would have got damaged had I parked at Waitrose,' she said. 'When I returned to the car the wheel was clamped — they must have been waiting for me.

'It's ridiculous — a traffic warden would give you five minutes to sort something out.

'The shopkeepers are already struggling to make a living in Okehampton but if people find they cannot collect things without getting clamped they will take their business elsewhere.'

Mrs Warren said she could not afford the £60 fine and was told the car would have to be towed away at the cost of £180.

'As far as I was concerned, this was a service area for Red Lion Yard and I was collecting goods I had ordered the previous day.'

Later in the day, after the police had been and gone, Mrs Warren's husband deflated the tyre and got the clamp off.

'I could not let them take my car. I would still be there now had my husband not got the clamp off. The fee is totally unreasonable.'

Pat Cranch from Bow, whose car was towed away because she could not pay the fine, described Okehampton as 'horror town'.

'It's disgusting — my husband only jumped over the wall to ask the man in the garage something and we were clamped,' she said.

'We have lost our car through coming to Okehampton so we will not have very good memories of this town. The fine is extortionate — if it was £20 I could probably manage it but we are on income support.'

Elderly driver Arthur Bucksey claimed his car wheel had been 'just six inches' over the dividing line between the Midland Bank car park and the private area when he was clamped.

He vowed he would not be coming to Okehampton again.

Local resident Shana Little, who was also clamped this week when collecting bread from the bakery, suggested there should be a five minute collection time.

'The traders expect us to be loyal to them so they should be loyal to us,' she said.

Helen Guard from the landowner's agent Knight Frank said the area was private land and not a public car park and it was not to be used other than by the tenants.

'We have changed security companies recently because we found that patrolling the area once a month was not enough — we had to take a strong line' she said.

'Sapphire Security Services have been told to use their common sense but they also have a job to do.'

She said people had the right to appeal to the clamping company in writing if they felt they had a good case.

Joint proprietor of three businesses in Red Lion Yard, Graham Arts said there had been a problem with people using it as a public car park but, whatever the clamping company was doing, it was working.

'Drivers have to go and park where it is legal and pay 40p — if somebody needed an ambulance up here there would be no chance if the area was full up with the public's vehicles,' he said.

Owner of Sapphire Security Services William Iveson said there was adequate signage and at the end of the day it was irrelevant how long vehicles were parked for.

'Whether it is one second or one hour it is irrelevant — the owners of the land do not want people parking there,' he added.