Abandoned vehicles - reporting and procedures
Central Bedfordshire has a duty under Section 3 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978, to remove a vehicle, which is abandoned within the district. The Council is also able to issue fixed penalty notices to the registered keeper of any vehicle found to be abandoned under Part 2 Section 10 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.
Central Bedfordshire Council is able to:
- Remove, and dispose of abandoned vehicles with little or no value within 1 working day of report.
- Remove, store and dispose of abandoned vehicles with some value within 7 days of report.
- Recover any and all costs relating to the removal, storage or disposal from the person responsible for abandoning the vehicle.
- Remove vehicles on private land (subject to statutory notice period and in some cases the landowners permission).
- Trace vehicle ownership and impose fines on those abandoning vehicles.
How to spot an abandoned vehicle
- Does the vehicle have a tax disc?
- Has the tax disc past its expiry date?
- Does the vehicle have flat tyres or missing wheels?
- Is there any litter in or under the vehicle, which might indicate it has not moved for some time?
- Is the windscreen or any of the windows broken?
- Does the vehicle have number plates?
- Has the vehicle been vandalised?
If you are the registered keeper for a vehicle which has been abandoned you could be liable for the following costs:
- A fixed penalty charge of £200
- Storage costs levied by the storage facility where the vehicle is in their care.
- Removal costs for the vehicle where a vehicle is removed and taken to our storage facility.
If you wish to report an abandoned vehicle please take note of the following information:
- Make
- Model
- Colour
- Registration Mark
- Location
- Condition of the vehicle.
Unwanted / End of life vehicles
Central Bedfordshire currently operates a removal service for end of life vehicles. This is a free service and vehicles removed are de-polluted and then all the material is recycled.
The registered keeper will be provided with a Certificate of Destruction when this has been completed.
To be eligible to surrender your car under this scheme you should have the V5 document and access to the car to be removed, you will also need to complete an 
authorisation form (application/pdf; 30kB).
If you need to report an abandoned vehicle or to surrender an end of life vehicle please contact Customer Services on 0300 300 8000 and at customer.services@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.