Mr Byers said this morning that there were two key things that needed to be done. Speaking on Radio 4, he said that short term powers were needed to get abandoned cars off the streets and longer term measures were needed to ensure stronger enforcement of car licensing regulations.
“At present you can wait up to 35 days to have cars removed and we are planning to introduce short term measures to remove cars within 24 hours where the car has no real value.”
In the longer term stronger enforcement is to be introduced to help the police, traffic wardens and council officers to control car licensing. One measure is likely to be the introduction of a registered keeper for the car on the road.
The importance of dealing with abandoned vehicles is recognised as a “quality of life issue”, said Mr Byers. “Abandoned cars, graffiti and dereliction are all issues that we have tackle.”
And, he confirmed that his department saw the value of scrap metal as a reason for more cars being abandoned. “Five years ago you could get 30-40 for your vehicle. Today scrap has no real value and you have to pay to see this taken away.”
Mr Byers confirmed that local authorities had a legal duty to bear the cost of abandoned cars but pointed out that “the real problem and cost for them is storage.”
It is likely that cars which “have some value” will have to be left for seven days before being removed.
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