Managers of car parks around Windsor's Theatre Royal have now been advised to take a more relaxed approach.

David Lunn, chief executive of Windsor and Maidenhead council, said: "Many theatre goers have had their evenings ruined by finding their cars clamped."

Drivers now have an hour after the end of performances to remove their cars.

Mr Lunn added: "The general feeling was that the clamping company was over zealous and unmoving in its approach and there are countless stories of people being left stranded or having to fork out huge sums of money to get their vehicles freed, just because they were late getting out of the theatre.

"This is not the welcoming image for Windsor we want to present to the public so the council organised a meeting with the owners to get their co-operation for a more flexible system that gives people a short period of grace after the curtain comes down in the nearby theatre."