Council vans clamped by bailiffs over unpaid debt

Two council vans were clamped in a council-owned car park by bailiffs as a result of an unpaid debt.

Swindon Borough Council has expressed "regret" at the situation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The two vans were clamped while parked outside the council-owned Civic Offices on Euclid Street.

Emma Bushell, deputy leader at the council, said: "Clearly, this has not been the council's finest hour. We regret this has happened, and will strive to ensure it doesn't happen again."

Ms Bushell was speaking to councillors as part of a debate on a motion put forward by the Conservative group's deputy leader councillor Dale Heenan.

After the Local Democracy Reporter broke the news of the clamping, he said he asked the reason and was told that the vans did not have the correct parking permits.

Mr Heenan told the chamber he did some digging and found the true reason - that the council had been issued fines between March and August totalling £138,000.

He added: "This is not normal. It does not normally happen in this authority."

Ms Bushell said the fines, which caused the action taken by bailiffs, were paid "immediately, and the vehicles were unclamped".

She added: "Absolutely the council's mistake, our fault entirely."

Ms Bushell said the council's chief executive and its head of finance had already instructed the internal audit team to conduct an investigation into the matter, to ensure it could not happen again.

Ms Bushell said there had been a number of county court claims made against the council under the previous Conservative administration and that some had been defended successfully and others lost by the council.

She added: "Under our administration, many of these claims relate to claims for housing disrepair which either predate us taking over, or have come as a result of the chronic under-investment in, and systematic neglect, of our 10,000 council homes over 20 years."

Correction 5 December: A previous version of this story said the reason for the clamping was due to a permit mix up. But the real reason was due to unpaid debts by the council from County Court Judgements. We have corrected this.

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