HANDS OFF OUR VAN, MR MAYOR

A VILLAGE shopkeeper was left stunned when a bailiff tried to seize her van.

Sarah Harper, 51, general manager of Hambleden Village Stores and Post Office, fell victim to criminals who cloned the licence plates of the shop’s Volkswagen Caddy.

She was hounded for payment of bogus fines run up by the crooks in London.

Ms Harper began receiving penalty notices for traffic offences in October. She appealed each one as it came in.

Lambeth and Hackney councils agreed that the van’s registration plates had been cloned so they revoked the fines.

However, Transport for London continued fining Ms Harper despite her providing evidence.

On Friday, a bailiff arrived at the shop and clamped the van, threatening to take it away together with stock from the shop if the debt was not paid.

Ms Harper, from Skirmett, was forced to pay £600 to ensure the van wasn’t impounded.

The vehicle is essential to the shop as it is used for cash and carry trips and to deliver goods to vulnerable individuals.

Ms Harper criticised TfL and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

She said: “The bailiff clamped the van and said if we didn’t pay £2,200, he’d take the van and stock from the shop.

“I said, ‘You can’t take the van’ and he’s like, ‘I’ve got to take it.’

“I was like, ‘You can’t take it because we are the victims’. I said, ‘Come on, you can see that’. He said, ‘I can see that but I still have an order to take it’.” The bailiff only relented when she paid the £600.

Ms Harper said: “Obviously he was just doing his job but if I hadn’t given him the money he would have uplifted the vehicle and taken it along with stock from the shop.

“I was quite upset and shocked at the whole situation.

“The bailiff could not have been nicer but the behaviour of TfL has been disgraceful.

“In October, we started getting multiple fines for going in red zones, the ultra-low emission zone, congestion charge zone and for penalty charge notices.

“In the photographs, it was a similar van to ours but it had different wheels, a different wheelbase and was it clearly a large Asian man who was driving. So with every single one that came through — and they were coming thick and fast — I challenged them and sent back photographs of our vehicle.

“It lasted for about four months. Hackney and Lambeth councils acknowledged that we were the victim here.

“I’ve got letters from Lambeth council saying, ‘We are so sorry. Thank you for letting us know. We can clearly see that this is not your vehicle. Sincerely, all apologies’.

“TfL has never responded to any of my correspondence and you can’t get hold of anybody.

“Despite having been given all the information they needed to refute these fines, they chose to either ignore them or have not got around to processing them and have instead decided to take the easy option and send in the bailiffs. They just don’t care.

“It was deeply upsetting and, quite frankly, embarrassing to have this happen to us on a busy day.

“We’re the victims here, although we have been treated like the bloody criminals.”

The store is owned by the Culden Faw Estate and employs 10 part-time staff.

Ms Harper, who has been manager for four years, said: “We are predominantly middle-aged females trying to run a little post office.

“It is horrible knowing criminals are driving around in a vehicle using our number plates and, despite having been told on numerous occasions, TfL have done absolutely nothing about it.

“What is even more annoying is that we had to pay a small part of the fine to prevent the bailiff from talking our van away, which will have wiped out any profit we may have made this month. Sadiq Khan is not welcome in our shop.

She added: “I have run the shop for four years. It’s my baby. We call it the groovy little store. We are a small shop and work hard to support the local community and we found this deeply unsettling.

“But it’s just funny, like you couldn't get quainter than Hambleden village. It’s not like we’re like smoking up to London, breaking all the rules.”

Alex Dick, Culden Faw estate manager, said: “The treatment by Transport for London has been appalling.

“Sarah and the company have done nothing wrong and, in fact, have done everything we can possibly do to furnish them with the evidence that counters their various fines and penalties.

“For some reason, we come up against a brick wall when dealing with TfL. It’s a disgrace and they should be ashamed of themselves.”

In a statement, Transport for London said: “We are very sorry that Ms Harper has been a victim of vehicle cloning.

“We are contacting her to inform her that all the charges will be refunded and apologise for the distress caused.”