Number of abandoned cars doubles in just one year

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The number of vehicles abandoned in one part of West Lothian has almost doubled in a year.A report delivered to the Whitburn and Blackburn Local Area Local Area Committee this week showed that 44 abandoned vehicles had been reported in the ward between February and April this year.For the same period in 2022 between February 1 to April 30- the number was 27.In some cases owners have simply moved the car to another street when it has been reported.Other drivers have left their cars untaxed instead of signing Statutory Off Road Notices (SORN) and parking off the public road as they should do.Chair of the local committee Councillor George Paul questions whether some costs the council faced could be placed on the owners who abandoned their vehicles.Eirwen Hopwood from the NETS land and countryside team told the meeting that costs to the council were minimised by contractual uplift of cars deemed abandoned.Some areas of the county suffer disproportionately to others from these problems.

The North Livingston ward has seen high rates of vehicle abandonment in recent years.In her report to the Whitburn and Blackburn committee today Eirwen Hopwood said: “In dealing with abandoned vehicles, Officers have gained compliance from vehicle owners with said vehicles getting removed from public highways or getting taxed in most cases.“Where appropriate, requests have been sent to WLC contractors for removal.

However, there are instances where vehicle owners are not compliant and result in moving their vehicles between streets.“When presented with such tactics, officers have contacted the DVLA and VOSA for support.