The Most Unpopular Men in London

Presenter: It’s half past eight in the morning and John Punch is starting his day’s work. Before he finishes, many people will shout at him and his mate Dave Wilson, argue with them and swear at them. They are the two of the most unpopular men in London. For John and Dave are a tow-away team. They lift cars that have been illegally parked and take them away to the car pound. In London about half a million vehicles a day are parked where they shouldn’t be – on double yellow lines, on bends or just double-parked.

If one of these vehicles is seen by a traffic warden or a police officer, a yellow sticker is placed on the windscreen. Any car with a yellow sticker can be towed away by any tow-away team that finds it. Within three minutes, the vehicle is lifted onto the lorry and it’s on its way to the pound.

If the owner arrives before the car has been lifted, they are allowed to drive it away, but once it is off the ground, it’s too late, as John explains.

John: Oh, no. Once we have lifted the car, we won’t put it down again. Well, if it’s a pregnant woman or a mother with lots of kids, the car might be dropped. But normally we won’t put it down. Once it’s off the ground, it’s off to the pound.

Presenter: At the pound the fee of 101 pounds must be paid to get the car back again. And motorists don’t like that at all. Here is John again.

John: People get very annoyed if they see us when we are lifting their car. Most of them shout at us or call us names. But we think we are doing an important job. Cars shouldn’t be parked on bends and places like that. It’s dangerous. Sometimes ambulances can’t get through to accidents, because cars have been double-parked. No, without us, London would just stop. And even more people would be annoyed then.

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Дата добавления: 2015-07-10