CHARGE COST OF ABANDONED CARS TO MANUFACTURERS

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 11th Mar 2004

The Government should follow the example of other EU countries, and make the manufacturers responsible for the disposal of abandoned cars.

This was the argument put today to the Minister in the House of Commons by David Rendel MP.

Commenting, Mr Rendel said -

"At the moment the cost of disposing of these cars falls upon the last user - even if that person is on a low income, bought the car when it was already of little value, and now finds that it has no value at all.

"It would be much fairer if the manufacturers were made responsible, as already happens elsewhere in the EU. This would also take the burden off local authorities that dispose of these cars for free, for environmental reasons.

"I am delighted that the Minister responded positively to my intervention and announced that manufacturers will be picking up the tab from 2007."

ENDS