PARKING fines are one thing. Extortion is another. Public fury at cowboy wheelclampers, who can immobilise your car on some dodgy or outright spurious pretext, and then demand a hundred pounds or so to release it, has made them among the first targets for a crackdown on the security industry.

In theory, car parks that clamp their customers arbitrarily should go bust. In practice, consumers are in a weak position. One recent scam in a London car park with an exit barrier was an added (and quite illogical) requirement that the ticket must also be left visibly in the car. Drivers who failed to read the small print returned to find their cars clamped.

Instead of some pleasing title such as Ofclamp, the newly established body licensing clamping firms is boringly called the Security Industry Authority. That reflects its wider remit. The other initiative launched this week is intended to raise standards for security guards, including nightclub bouncers.

Almost as unpopular as the wheelclampers, these hulking figures must now pass a criminal background check, an English test and other “training”.

It is true that doormen in some places, such as parts of south London, are little more than a protection racket. And there are enough cases of bouncers selling drugs, or beating stroppy or befuddled punters to death, to create cause for concern.

But there is a danger of over-regulation here. Not all security guards deal with the public. Largely, businesses should be left to choose whom they hire. After all, nightclubs, much more than car parks, live by their reputations.