THE case of a wheel clamper accused of clamping vehicles in Bristol without permission has been thrown out of court.

Peter May, 36, faced a two-day trial at Bristol Magistrates' Court after pleading not guilty to a series of clamping offences.

He originally faced six charges, but one, that he falsely claimed he was allowed to clamp vehicles for financial gain at an address in Bedminster on February 28 was withdrawn due to a lack of evidence before the trial began.

Magistrates then dismissed two more – that he immobilised vehicles without a licence between March 17 and 27 – on Monday afternoon, on the grounds there was no case to answer.

The three others – that he falsely claimed he was allowed to clamp vehicles for financial gain, at one address in Clifton and another in Kingsdown, between February 28 and March 27 – were abandoned on Tuesday morning.

The case began on Monday, with four witnesses giving evidence for the prosecution case.

The court heard Mr May, of Hamp Brook Way, Bridgwater, had worked for Able Parking Security Ltd with a man called Mr Blair, and the company put up signs at private land sites threatening clamping without the landowner's permission.

The two locations were Kings Road in Clifton, owned by David Bell, and Highbury Villas, Kingsdown, owned by Austin Boyle.

They admitted there had been parking arrangements before they purchased the respective sites, and they had allowed them to continue although weren't aware of the details.

Yesterday morning Kevin Withey, prosecuting, told the court the Crown Prosecution Service had reviewed the situation and decided there was no case to answer.

He said: "We have a responsibility to keep cases under review and decide whether there is a reasonable chance of conviction and whether it is in the public interest.

"The background to this is there were areas where vehicles were being clamped illegally by a company.

"Mr Blair has been dealt with separately by way of a financial penalty.

"The company is no longer operating.

"It is my view that in respect of the evidence as it has come out, there is no reasonable likelihood of Mr May being convicted and so I invite you to dismiss the case."

Brian Carrick, defending, said: "Even if the case had gone to its conclusion, the Crown had difficulties.

"There are five tenants of shops (in Kings Road) but the Crown could not prove evidence of where cars are specifically positioned. The Crown must prove cars were in spaces where they shouldn't be and were clamped.

"There was the evidence of the two landowners – one accepted he had written to the company while the other had a meeting which may have left Mr May and his erstwhile colleague with the illusion they had permission to clamp. So long as they thought they had permission, that's good enough.

"The case is doomed to fail and the dead horse has been flogged long enough."

Magistrates agreed and Mr May left the court without penalty. He declined to comment outside Bristol Magistrates' Court.