Who is responsible for removing abandoned vehicles?
Removing an abandoned vehicle is a matter for either the local authority or the police. It's an offence to abandon a vehicle anywhere on the highway (roads and pavements) or on public land.
Where vehicles are not illegally parked, but otherwise appear to be abandoned, the responsibility for removing and ultimately disposing of them rests in practice with the local authority.
Local authorities have the power to trace the last owner of the vehicle to assign disposal costs. Under the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulation 1986, the police have the power to immediately remove any vehicle which is left in breach of local traffic regulation orders, is causing an obstruction, is likely to cause danger, is broken down or is abandoned without lawful authority.