Abandoned Vehicles
We have the power to remove a vehicle on the public highway, private roads and other land in the open air for a number of reasons if it is felt the vehicle is abandoned.
A vehicle which is considered abandoned on the public highway will be given up to 14 days notice.
If the vehicle is not removed within this period, we will remove and dispose of it and may charge the owner for any costs incurred.
If the owner of the vehicle contacts us within the notice period, in most cases the vehicle is no longer classed as abandoned, and we will not remove it.
What isn’t always an abandoned vehicle
A vehicle is not considered to be abandoned solely if it is causing an obstruction to a footpath/public highway.
This would need to be reported to Surrey Police on 101.
If the vehicle is taxed/has a valid MOT and is legally parked then we would not consider the vehicle to have been abandoned.
If you are concerned that the vehicle is suspicious, or possibly stolen, then you would need to report this to Surrey Police via 101.
We would encourage you to contact your local housing association in the first instance, as they would be responsible for managing parking spaces/land for their residents.
As the vehicle is being driven around, it would suggest that there is an owner, therefore we would not consider the vehicle to have been abandoned.
In these circumstances this would need to be reported to Surrey Police via 101.
When a vehicle is reported as abandoned to us we will conduct a number of checks before applying a removal notice. These checks include:
A check via the DVLA to establish whether the vehicle has up-to-date tax and MOT.
A visual assessment to see if the vehicle demonstrates the following:
- broken glass; that could be either the windscreen or any of the windows
- mould developing on either the inside or outside of the vehicle
- two or more flat tyres
- no number plates
- rusty brake discs; indicating that the vehicle has been stationary for a long period of time
- the presence of litter e.g. weeds etc growing under the vehicle, indicating that it has not been moved for a considerable period of time
- waste present e.g. tyres inside the vehicle
Please note, a vehicle can still be classed as abandoned if it does not meet the above criteria.