§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will take measures to enable local authorities to remove more promptly motor vehicles which have been abandoned on(a) public and (b) private land; and if he will make a statement. [108115]
§ Mr. MullinWe have no plans to shorten the period of notice a local authority must give before removing from public or private land any vehicle which it considers has been abandoned. The existing regulations are intended to provide owners with safeguards against a local authority prematurely assuming a vehicle is abandoned and having it towed away for scrap. They also ensure that local authorities do not have to go to the unnecessary expense of removing and storing vehicles that may not, in the event, have been abandoned.
We believe that the current legislation provides a good balance between the powers of the police and local authorities to deal with abandoned vehicles and the rights of vehicle owners.