Untaxed cars - CRUSHED

Havering Council has now crushed 100 vehicles since it hired a new contractor to get tough on people who don't tax their cars. Over 240 untaxed cars have been towed away since the new contractor started in September last year and now the 100th vehicle has met its fate, recently being crushed.

Havering Council appointed a new contractor which uses automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) equipment to identify untaxed vehicles within seconds. Abandoned vehicles can also be identified and removed before they become vandalised.

Two ANPR-equipped vehicles are patrolling the borough scanning streets and car parks. Once a vehicle is identified, the contractor will seek the authority of the DVLA to lift the vehicle onto a recovery truck and take it to a pound. The new contractor is now removing on average 40 vehicles a month.

To reclaim their vehicles, owners will have to pay a minimum of £100 plus a surety of £160 or show a valid tax disc. If the owner fails to claim their car after 14 days, the DVLA can give approval for it to be crushed.

Cllr Andy Mann, the former Cabinet Member for StreetCare (pictured above) who first introduced car crushing in Havering, some four years ago said “lots of residents get annoyed when they see cars without a tax disc, and now drivers will need to act more responsibly are they will loose their car. Untaxed cars often have no insurance or an M.O.T and have been used for criminal activity”

The owner can verify a removed vehicle's location by contacting http://www.trace.com/ or phone 020 7747 4747. The contact telephone number for the pound is 01702 469 449.

The charges for recovering an untaxed vehicle are:

Within 24 hours of removal - £100, plus a surety of £160 or a valid tax disc
After 24 hours of removal - £200, plus a surety of £160 or a valid tax disc
Storage is charged at £21 per day from the third day after removal