Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
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Contact Norman at:
Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
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2003 (and previous) press releases
Britain Faced With 27% Increase In Abandoned Car Mountain
Local Councils have been hit by a 27% rise in the number of abandoned cars according to the latest Government figures.
The statistics uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show a cost of up to £14.6m to remove 293,000 abandoned vehicles in 2001/02 the last year for which figures are available. Over 60,000 more cars were dumped in 2001/02 compared with 2000/01 when the costs were up to £11.5m. This rise comes as the government has failed to introduce policies to make producers responsible for the cost of recycling end of life vehicles, as is the case in Europe.
The top five dumping hotspots were Newham (8,117 cases), Enfield (6,347), Birmingham (5,257), Sandwell (5,247) and Southampton (5,000).
Responding Liberal Democrat's Shadow Environment Secretary Norman Baker MP, said:
"The rise in dumped cars is becoming an urban environmental disaster. We've all heard of the dumped fridge mountain and now we face an abandoned car mountain on the same scale. Britain is in danger of becoming a huge breakers yard.
"Recent research suggests that the Governments new policy of making the last owner pay for recycling of a car will lead to twice as many dumped cars and an annual £30m bill to the taxpayer. Responsibility must move from the individual to the manufacturers as is the case in Europe."