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Dumped Vehicles


TGB
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I'm visiting and my car is in their garage. Today I was supposed to be cutting in a wood 19km away and next week in a wood 24km distant. Bright and early I get loaded up, have breakfast then open the garage doors. And find some scroat has dumped a car outside in the lane. In such a position, as to block both our vehicles in the garage and prevent neighbour parking there car outside their house. It's a deadens lane and we're at the far end.

 

The car was last taxed up to 31-07-13. So whoever drove it here, did so illegally. Rang police who said they'd send the community officer round but that officer was/is in a PACT meeting. But also said, they'd checked on the reg., vehicle description and tax disc no. I 'd given them and between them, (the police) & DVLA the vehicle could not be traced. It was last sold in Jan. this year but they weren't given the new owner's details. The tax disc, it was issued in a PO in the nearest town, a couple of miles away.

 

Between 1st and 2nd comms with police, someone had visited the vehicle and tidied the inside. First time I saw it, it had carrier bags/litter on the seats and the glove box was open but empty. 30mins. later the bags were gone and t he glove box was closed.

 

The council are interested, as it's not parked outside any councillor's property. And although the vehicle has no known owner, is parked on & blocking a public highway and has no valid VED disc; the police won't brake into it or attempt to move it and the council won't tow it.

 

The only way apparently of legally removing it. Is for my 78yr. old mother, (the householder) to pay for removal and storage or scrapping. So we both now have taxed cars which neither of us can use. I'm not cutting and have let down people on the other end. There is no fixed date when the offending vehicle is going to be moved, nor apparently any enforcement to have it removed.

 

Why do we pay taxes..?

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I'll remember that one Python.

 

As to shunting it - could not do that, as it was hard up against two walls.

 

As to towing it - had thought of that but had its own problems. Without being able to enter vehicle to steer and the wheels set at full-lock, it was not going to work.

 

Trolley jacks might have worked. But I don't have any this end of the country. And the main road is slightly uphill and 200m away round a tight 90° bend at one end.

 

This does have a happy ending though. Late in the afternoon, I noticed a man near the car. Go out and it turns out it's his car. Sure he'll move it. Very sorry it got in the way. And so he moves it a little way down the lane but this time tucks it out of the way, so everyone can get by.

 

Apparently he'd bought it last night for spares. £200 with no tax or MOT but low mileage. What I can't figure, is the police managed to eventually trace the new owner and suggest he move it. He lives 19km away; so why the heck did he choose this lane to deposit his car.

 

Something all to fishy going on there. I'm just happy it's out of the way. I got to the wood and managed to get in 90mins. of work but the main body of work had been completed by others. Glad the owners had managed to get their job done, just a pity it wasn't by me.

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Sounds to me like he parked it where he did because it is illegal for it to be on the road, so he needs somewhere quiet to dump it.

 

Legally dumped vehicles like this can be a nightmare. I had issues some time back with a car parked across the end of my drive, making access almost impossible but no quite. The car was road legal, and research and advice I sought at the time revealed that the authorities were not interested (no crime, road traffic offence, or parking offence had been committed), however if I moved the car at all, I was committing an offence (even moving it 10 feet on skates is "taking without the owner's consent").

 

Interestingly if you are blocked in your drive, then no offence is committed. If you are blocked out of your drive, then it is likely that an offence of obstruction has been committed and the police can intervene, if they have nothing better to do of course.

 

I did hear of someone who ended up with a car in their front garden after an RTC, and the police were apparently unable to trace the owner or driver of the car. The owner of the garden could not legally move the car until she had obtained a court order, since the owner's permission was required but no-one knew who the owner was, and unsurprisingly the owner wasn't forthcoming. It took weeks and cost £££ to get permission to pay someone to take it away.

 

At times the law can be an ass.

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