SHOCKED Worcester flat residents have had to pay more than £300 each after their cars were clamped and towed away -- from their own designated spaces.

But a representative of the company that built the flats has branded the residents "lazy idiots" for failing to display a valid parking permit.

STUNNED flats residents had to pay more than £300 each after their cars were clamped and towed away -- from their own designated spaces.

They had to hand over the money at a motorway service station and claimed they did not know they needed a residents' permit to prove they could park there.

However, a representative of the company that built the flats, Dolton's Wharf, near Shrub Hill, Worcester, said each resident had been issued with a permit and they were "lazy idiots" for failing to display it.

Resident Paul Winfield, aged 24, said he was shocked when he returned home to discover his car had gone.

He said: "I couldn't believe it. It was in my space where I always park and I came home and it had vanished.

"Everybody was disgusted but there was nothing we could do. I never knew I had to have a permit. It wasn't in our tenancy agreement."

Mr Winfield said he contacted his landlord Gordon Cupper, of Broadheath Construction and was told there was nothing he could do.

He paid £295, plus £30 for 'overnight storage', in cash, to representatives of clamping company Midlands Parking Contracts (MPC), which, he claimed, had damaged his car. He said: "We had to go to Hopwood Service Station on the M42 where we were confronted with four men.

"The vehicle was un-ceremoniously dumped onto the tarmac before the MPC employees drove off in haste. It was a complete and utter disgrace."

Neighbour Joel Smart, aged 25, also had his car towed away. He had received a parking permit and had it in his car, although it was not on display. He said: "A permit had appeared through my letter box one day but I didn't think I had to tape it to the windscreen.

"I had to hand over £325. What else could I do? It's a week's wages, a substantial amount of money."

Alan Cupper, also of Broadheath Construction, said he had gone to the flats on the day of the clamping.

He said: "If they (the residents) weren't such idiots they wouldn't have been clamped. Basically, they were too lazy to put permits in their cars and now they're shouting off after they've been clamped.

"There are five signs up saying people were at risk of getting clamped and now they expect us to do something about it.

"We don't make a penny out of this, we don't even get an introductory fee."

Simon Barry, road manager for Clampers MPC, said signs warned a permit had to be displayed.

He said: "We keep getting called out there, mainly by neighbours who ring up to complain about cars being in the wrong places. We don't charge our customers, the landowners, a penny."

He said that he was unaware of damage to Mr Winfield's car but said they always clamped the wheel hubs to avoid touching the paintwork and videoed everything.