Abandoned vehicles can have a significant impact on our local environment.
They devalue the area, promote deterioration and can lead to anti-social behaviour.
We have a duty to investigate all reports of abandoned and untaxed vehicles. Vehicles can be abandoned on land open to the air and this includes both public and private land.
Information about abandoned vehicle legislation is available on the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs website.
Report an abandoned vehicle
Use our online form to report an abandoned vehicle or to request the removal of your unwanted vehicle.
You can also email the Street Enforcement team at streetenforcement@cambridge.gov.uk or telephone 01223 458282.
If reporting an abandoned vehicle, please provide details of the vehicle make, model, registration, colour, location and reasons why you think the vehicle is abandoned.
Identify an abandoned vehicle
You can use the following criteria to help determine whether a vehicle is abandoned:
- Has the vehicle been parked without moving for two weeks or more?
- Is the vehicle untaxed?
- Are there any flat tyres or removed wheels?
- Is the windscreen or any of the windows broken?
- Is the vehicle mouldy or rusty?
- Is there waste inside the vehicle?
- Are there there wires hanging from the dashboard?
If the answer to more than one of the criteria is yes, you may be looking at an abandoned vehicle.
How we deal with abandoned vehicles
All abandoned vehicle reports received by the council will be investigated. If the vehicle is believed to be abandoned, a notice will be served on it and attempts will be made to contact the last registered keeper.
If the vehicle remains unmoved after the notice has expired and no owner comes forward, the abandoned vehicle officer will visit. If the vehicle is deemed to be abandoned by an officer it will be removed and stored for 21 days. If the vehicle remains unclaimed after this period, it will be recycled.
Penalties for abandoning a vehicle
Abandoning a vehicle is a criminal offence. The council can prosecute the last registered keeper of a vehicle for this offence.
The maximum penalty on conviction is a fine not exceeding £2,500 and/or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
Alternatively, the council may issue a fixed penalty notice of £200.
Unwanted vehicles
If you own a vehicle that you no longer want and would like to dispose of it, you will need to contact an Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) who will recycle it for you.
The following web sites provide details of your nearest ATFs:
They may be able to collect and even pay you for the vehicle.
Alternatively, we offer a removal service for unwanted vehicles. If you are the registered keeper and have the log book (V5C) available you can contact the council for further information. A fee (currently £85) is charged for this service.
Untaxed vehicles
Every vehicle registered in the United Kingdom must be taxed if used or kept on a public road. If the vehicle is kept off-road it must either be taxed or have a Sorn (Statutory Off Road Notification) in force. If not it could be wheelclamped or removed without notice by either Cambridge City Council or the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency's Wheelclamping and Removal of Vehicles Without Tax contains further information.
