Abandoned vehicles

Our Street Scene Enforcement Officers inspect vehicles that are reported by the public as having been abandoned, or those that they come across on their daily patrols of the Borough.

There is no legal definition of 'abandoned' but below are criteria that we will consider

  • Whether the vehicle is taxed or untaxed,
  • The details of the vehicle held by the DVLA
  • Stationary for a significant amount of time - a minimum of 4 weeks unless the vehicle has one/more of the following:
  • Significantly damaged or run down
  • Flat tyres or wheels removed
  • Burnt out
  • Rusty brake discs
  • Lacking one or more of its plates
  • Containing waste
  • Doors open or unlocked and/or windows open or broken
  • Location of the vehicle and status of land where it is situated
  • Subjected of a graffiti attack
  • Mould on the inside

This is not an complete list and a vehicle would not have to have all these characteristics to be considered abandoned.

Because a vehicle:

  • Is displaying an expired tax disc
  • Is poorly parked
  • Does not belong to a resident living in the road

does not mean it has been abandoned. Only report vehicles you honestly believe have been abandoned.

Inspections

Inspected vehicles which are not deemed to be abandoned will not normally be considered for re-inspection until they have been unused/unmoved for at least three months from the date of the original report.

Please report untaxed vehicles to the DVLA.

If, during an inspection of a vehicle, the Street Scene Enforcement Officer believes the vehicle has been abandoned they will affix a statutory notice to the vehicle.

This warns the owner that they must contact the Council to claim the vehicle or move it, or it will be removed by the Council.

The owner will be given 24 hours to do this.

Reporting an abandoned vehicle

When reporting a suspected abandoned vehicle to us, please include:

  • Details of the vehicle registration
  • Make, model, and colour
  • Whether the vehicle is taxed

Give the exact location of the vehicle and how long the vehicle has been left unmoved at its present location.

If the information requested above is not provided, we will not send an Officer to inspect the vehicle.

What we will do for you

  • We will inspect vehicles within 1 working day of being notified of the details
  • If the vehicle is deemed abandoned by our Street Scene Enforcement Officer, we will affix the statutory notice on its windscreen
  • Provided the vehicle is not claimed, we will re-inspect it once the time period on the notice has passed
  • Unclaimed vehicles will be removed by our nominated contractor and may be destroyed or kept in secure storage depending on their status
  • Our nominated contractor will remove a vehicle that is burnt out or in a very dangerous condition within 24 hours of our inspection of the vehicle
  • We will let you know if we have removed your vehicle if you telephone us on 020 8891 7011 during officer hours (Monday-Friday between 9am and 5pm). Out of these hours, you may leave a message and your call will be returned the following working day
  • We will ensure that we will respond to your contact within the Council’s customer service standards

Please do not abandon your vehicle, the Council runs a free vehicle disposal service where vehicles can be surrendered.

How we did last month

Download our service performance statistics for last month here.