From August 29, motorists in Sheffield who abandon their cars will face charges of more than £350 as the city council seeks to tackle a dramatic rise in car fly-tipping, which appears to have more than trebled in the last six years.
Hundreds of vehicles are being left to rot across the city every year rather than being cashed in for scrap metal or recycled for free - prompting the council’s change of policy as it currently picks up all the costs of tackling the problem.
Under the new rules motorists will face a fixed £200 fine, plus a minimum of £150 for the removal, storage and destruction of their vehicles.
Sheffield City Council revealed that in the last year more than 600 abandoned vehicles have been reported with more than 50 being removed due to their poor condition. In 2010 just over 200 reports were received with only four cars being removed.
The council puts the increase down in the main to a lower price of scrap metal, ‘which has led some motorists to dump their cars rather than drive to a recycling facility’.
Cllr Bryan Lodge, the council's cabinet member for environment: ‘We are prepared to take tough measures to rid the streets of eyesore vehicles.
‘There is no justifiable reason for abandoning a car and we will take action to reduce the number of dumped vehicles on our city streets.’
However residents are normally able to dispose of their vehicle for free, through an authorised treatment facility (ATF). Further details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/find-vehicle-scrapyard
The council also highlighted there are charity schemes, which allow people to turn an old vehicle into the maximum donation to a cause of their choice.
