Contact Information

Forest of Dean District Council
Council Offices
High Street
Coleford
Glos
GL16 8HG

Tel: 01594 810000
council@fdean.gov.uk

Homepage > Service Areas > Transport and streets > Street Care & Cleaning > Abandoned Vehicles

Abandoned Vehicles

Forest of Dean District Council is responsible for removing abandoned vehicles from the roads and highways across the district. We work in partnership with Gloucestershire County Council in dealing with this nuisance by removing and disposing of vehicles. We also work with housing associations to remove vehicles found abandoned in housing estates, although notification in these instances must be through the associations.

Abandoned vehicles are expensive to remove, have a negative impact on the environment, look unsightly and can lower the quality of life in neighbourhoods. They can be the result of, or lead to crime, take up valuable parking spaces and can quickly become dangerous when vandalised or filled with hazardous waste.

What We Do About Abandoned Vehicles

We will investigate whether the vehicle has been abandoned and will check to see whether it has been stolen or involved in an accident. If the vehicle has been abandoned on a road, including private roads and estates, we will remove the vehicle. If the vehicle is on private land, we will serve a 15 day notice of removal on the owner/occupier.

If the vehicle is of no value, we can dispose of it immediately. If it’s considered to be of some value, we will send a written notice of destruction to the owner. If the vehicle is unclaimed we can dispose of it.

We work with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to trace vehicle ownership and under the Clean Neighbourhoods Act we have the power to impose a fine of £200 on people who have abandoned a vehicle.

Report an Abandoned Vehicle

To report an abandoned vehicle contact us on 01594 810000 during office hours or fill in our Abandoned Vehicle online form. Please tell us the exact location of the vehicle, the registration number, the make, model and colour, and if you know it, the date or approximate date of when it was abandoned and the expiry date of any tax displayed.

Alternatively there is a 24 hour reporting of abandoned vehicles service provided by the Arson Task Force 0800 180 4140 .

How to Identify an Abandoned Vehicle

Before you report an abandoned vehicle please check to see if you think the vehicle really is abandoned. Check the following:

Is the vehicle untaxed i.e. no tax disc present at all or past the expiry date?
Are any of the tyres flat or have any of the wheels been removed?
Is there litter or detritus (weeds/leaves) under the vehicle, indicating that it has not moved for some time?
Is the windscreen or any of the windows broken?
Is there any mould on either the inside or outside of the vehicle?
Does the vehicle contain items of waste e.g. tyres, old newspapers, general rubbish?
Does the vehicle have number plates?
Has the vehicle been ‘hot-wired’ i.e. driven without keys by connecting ignition wires together? (If it has, there will be wires hanging from the dashboard).
Has the vehicle been vandalised? Exterior vandalism might include dents in bodywork, graffiti, bumpers/spoilers being removed; interior vandalism might include radio being stolen, seat covers being slashed.
Has a vehicle that you and your neighbours have never seen before suddenly appeared in your road and no-one is claiming ownership?

Disposing of Vehicles

If you want to dispose of a vehicle from the 1st January 2007 European Union End of Life: Vehicle Directive comes into force. This makes the vehicle manufacturer responsible for the disposal and recycling of "end of life" vehicles. In effect this means that owners can take their "end of life" vehicles to an Authorised Treatment Facility where the vehicle will be disposed of free of charge - during periods when the price of scrap is high, as it was throughout 2006, owners may even see a cash return for their old vehicle.