Dumped cars 'cost councils £250m'

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Local authorities in the UK spend more than £250m a year removing abandoned cars, according to a report.

Recycleyourcar.co.uk estimates £230m of this is the clean-up bill for the 50,000 cars torched each year.

The website, which is part of recycling firm Sims Group UK, said another £26m was spent moving 250,000 dumped cars from streets, parks and other areas.

The Environment Agency says if old cars are taken to the proper facilities, 74 to 80% of their weight can be recycled.

New legislation, called the End of Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive, was introduced in November 2003 which made it a legal requirement that old vehicles were properly disposed of at approved facilities.

But many people ignore this, and the Recycleyourcar report points out the environmental damage this causes.

Of the two million cars which reach the end of their lives each year, around only 650,000 are disposed of properly, it said.

The remaining 1.35m that are unaccounted for will keep these figures "a constant burden on local councils for years to come", the website said.

The Countryside Alliance warned earlier this week that fly-tipping was taking place on a "massive scale" across the UK, and cost local authorities nearly £100m last year to clean up.