Scrapyard UK: 7 times more cars dumped on our roads

THE number of vehicles dumped on the roadside has soared nearly seven-fold in just four years.

One abandoned car is removed every 30 minutes by councils – equivalent to 31,812 over the last two years – reveal latest figures.

Coventry is named as the scrapyard capital of Britain after 2,321 dumped vehicles were taken off its streets.

The surge in costs for insurance, repairs and fuel was blamed for the rising number of drivers ditching their cars by comparison website Confused.com, which obtained the figures.

The vehicles are not only an eyesore but a cost for local residents as councils fork out hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to clear the roads.

The bill in 2016 and 2017 was £933,379 while just £115,610 in fines was collected from drivers. Over the two years, councils also had to pay to destroy 20,551 seized vehicles, pushing up the total.

The public appear to be well aware of

the problem, filing 261,724 reports in 2016 and up to October 2017.

A total of 18,941 cars were removed in 2016, up from 2,797 in 2012 – a near seven-fold rise. Another 12,871 cars were removed in 2017.

Councils in the South East removed the most unwanted vehicles in 2016 and 2017, taking away 6,264 at a total cost of £128,078.

The problem in the East of England is worsening at the fastest rate. In 2016, the number of unwanted cars removed was 11 times higher than in 2012.

In the poll of 2,000 drivers by Confused. com, 23 per cent said motoring costs have become too high.

The most common reason for ditching a car was because it had broken down and motorists could not afford to have it towed. But others simply could no longer afford to run their vehicle.

‘Surge in costs for running vehicles’