A SUDDEN rise in complaints about wheel clamping has been reported to Stockton Borough Council's trading standards department.

Drivers who park in the Teesdale area, near the footbridge, and in the KFC car park near Wellington Square, are returning to their cars to find they have been clamped.

Dave Kitching, trading standards manager at the council, said: "Both areas are private land. As long as signs are clearly visible warning of the action to be taken, a person leaving their car there is, in law, consenting to allow the clamping to take place. In all the areas that people are complaining about there are a number of signs, all clearly stating that it is private land and that unauthorised vehicles will be clamped."