A MOTORIST was so furious after his van was clamped that he sawed the clamp off and drove away, York magistrates heard.

But the car park attendant who had put it on saw the "unclamped" van and asked driver Ainsley Foster where it was, said Nick Kirkland, prosecuting.

Foster had thrown the broken clamp into a skip on the University of York campus.

"I felt offended," Foster told the court. "I did grind the clamp off. I am not a malicious man. I felt it was a bit provocative."

Father-of-four Foster, 34, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and was conditionally discharged for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £100 compensation, plus £50 costs. The prosecution had asked for £200 compensation, the cost of the clamp.

Foster, who was unrepresented, told the court that he had moved his vehicle earlier at the request of the university's car park attendant. He left it for an hour in a new spot.

When he returned, it had been clamped, but two vehicles nearby had not. They had been given warning letters telling them to move.

Foster, of Hargrave Court, Blyth, Northumberland, owns his own business, Foster Aluminium.

Updated: 11:20 Thursday, March 18, 2004