§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned cars there have been in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [65640]
§ Mr. MeacherLocal authorities are responsible for dealing with abandoned vehicles and the Department currently holds no central records of the number of vehicles abandoned each year. However, we estimate that some 350,000 were abandoned in the United Kingdom in 2000.
Information on the number of abandoned vehicles removed by local authorities has been collected for the first time in the Department's 2000–01 Municipal Waste Management Survey which will be published this summer.