Abandoned vehicle law

Any vehicles that are clearly abandoned become the responsibility of the local authority in which the vehicles are located.  The law governing the removal of vehicles is contained in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984,  the Refuse Disposal (Amenity ) Act 1978 and the Removal and Disposal of Vehicle Regulations 1986.  Under the 1986 regulations the police have the power to remove immediately any vehicle which is left in breach of local traffic regulation orders, or is causing an obstruction or is likely to cause a danger.

The recently introduced Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2002 have:

• reduced the period of notice prescribed by the 1986 Regulations to 24 hours where a vehicle is in such a condition it ought to be destroyed; and
• reduced the period of vehicle custody by Local authorities to seven days.     

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