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Michael Howard has been drawn into a legal battle involving a couple trying to retrieve their car after it was clamped seven weeks ago.

Sir Geoffrey Lofthouse, Labour MP for Pontefract and Castleford, has asked the Home Secretary to intervene in the case of Chris and Linda Milnes, of Knottingley, West Yorkshire, who face a bill of more than pounds 1,000 to recover their pounds 3,700 Ford Escort from a private clamping firm in Leeds after originally being told that the pounds 95 fee to release the vehicle had to be paid within an hour. They refused to pay. Sir Geoffrey said that he had confirmed with Wakefield council that there were no wheel-clamp warning signs at the semi-derelict site where the couple parked. PA