Police cadet charged £150 to recover his stolen moped
TEENAGER WAS ATTENDING MEETING WHEN IT WAS TAKEN
A DERBY teenager has been asked to fork out more than £150 to retrieve his moped from an impound lot after it was stolen while he attended a police cadets meeting.
Aiden Millington, who is 17 and from Sinfin, parked his moped across the road from Nottingham Road Fire Station, in Chaddesden, on November 26 while attending the meeting.
When the session had finished, however, he found that his bike had vanished.
His mum, Donna, reported the incident to Derbyshire police, who told her that retrieving the vehicle would be unlikely.
She said she never received a call from the police to say the bike had been recovered.
However, last week, a bill for its recovery came through the family’s letterbox. The letter from Burrows Recovery Ltd, based on Chequers Lane, asked for £150 to recover the bike plus £10 per day the bike is at the impound lot, said Donna.
She said it was only worth around £450 and was told the front panels had been ripped off, diminishing its value further.
She said although the family had taken out insurance on the bike when they bought it as a 16th birthday gift for Aiden, they had not realised it was insured for “ride only”.
Donna said: “I’m a bit peeved, to be honest, to receive a letter for an item that was stolen.”
Burrows Recovery Ltd told Donna she would need to raise the matter with the police as they are unable to authorise non-payment as the fee is set by the police.
Donna said that staff at the impound lot told her the bike “was not rideable”. “They had pulled off the front to get it going and all the handlebars. So, I’ve got to pay £150 to pick up a bike that I have then got to pay to fix,” she said.
“How is this right? He has had his bike stolen, attending a voluntary police cadets session which he has been in for five or six years now.
“He aims to be a policeman himself and he wouldn’t have been in Chaddesden had he not been going to his cadets session anyway.”
The letter from Burrows Recovery Ltd says that Derbyshire Constabulary recovered the bike under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.
It said: “Vehicles are recovered under this legislation if found to be illegally parked, causing danger or obstruction, broken down or abandoned.”
It also said that this still applies if the bike has been stolen.
The letter advised that the vehicle will be disposed of after 14 days of receiving notice,if it is not collected.
Donna said police advised her to leave the bike at the impound lot and let it be destroyed and that it would be “unlikely” they would follow up on any payment required.
The Derby Telegraph contacted Derbyshire police, who said: “Statutory charges, which are set by the Home Office, are made to the owners of vehicles that are recovered – whatever the circumstance.
“These charges cover the cost of recovery and storage and the force makes no money out of charges.
“In most cases, the owner will be able to claim the money back from the insurance.
“A 16-year-old boy from Derby has been arrested in connection with the theft and bailed and enquiries are ongoing into the incident.
“The statutory charges are applied equally to all vehicle owners and the public would rightly expect that exceptions would not be made.”