Clamping was introduced in Cork city centre yesterday. After a leaflet campaign which had warned motorists in the city centre to expect clamping if they parked illegally from yesterday, Cork Corporation said it would phase in the policy "gently" for about a week.
Illegal parking in and around Cork city centre has become a major problem and is seen as one of the main reasons for continuing traffic congestion despite massive amounts of money being spent on car-parks.
According to a corporation spokesman, initially only one or two cars a day will be clamped, costing each car owner more than £60 rather than the existing £15 traffic ticket. But after the introductory period, a private firm of contractors will take any illegally parked car away to the pound.
A corporation official said the corporation was not in the business of trying to harass motorists but had a responsibility to keep city-centre traffic flowing.
"We are not trying to catch people - we are only there to make the city a place where people can do business more efficiently," he said.