HL Deb 18 April 2002 vol 633 cc170-1WA
Baroness Byford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What were the costs of dealing with abandoned cars over the past five years. [HL3759]

Lord Whitty

Local 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 and that disposal costs are between £30 and £50 per vehicle. The total net cost for 2000 of their disposal would therefore be in the range of £10 million to £17 million.

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 should be published in July.