Innovative Car Removal Scheme short-listed for award

6.00.00pm GMT Wed 21st Jan 2004

The Liberal Democrat inspired Milton Keynes Abandoned Vehicles Unit celebrates its second birthday this month with the news that it has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious People and Places Awards.

MK Council joined forces with Thames Valley Police and the Bucks and Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Service in 2002 to design and launch the Unit in a bid to slash the number of abandoned cars and the number of car fires on the streets of Milton Keynes, as part of the Liberal Democrats' "Cleaning Up MK" election promise.

The project has been an unmitigated success. Since then the number of abandoned vehicles has almost halved (44 percent decrease) and the team are able to respond more efficiently to reports of dumped cars. In fact, in eight out of ten cases, an inspector 'came to call' within just 24 hours of a report being called through.

The Dial A Wreck 'car takeaway scheme' - where the council removes clapped out motors at the owner's behest - has also taken off since its launch in January last year, dealing with over 400 unwanted motors.

The Unit involves a member of staff from the Thames Valley Police, an MK Council Abandoned Vehicles Officer and a dedicated administrator. The officer seconded from the Police has access to the resources of MK Council and a van supplied by the Fire Service to travel around the city The council has also set up a direct data link with the DVLA in Swansea, allowing Unit staff to access registered keeper details immediately, Information is also available from the Police National Computer, where stolen vehicles can be identified

Liberal Democrat Councillor Douglas McCall, the Cabinet leader with overall responsibility for the Unit, said: "The Unit has raised a great deal of interest in other areas of the country. It has been a great success in tackling the problems related to abandoned vehicles in Milton Keynes and we hope it will continue to go from strength to strength."

The People and Places Awards are organised by EnCams, the environmental charity that runs the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign. Representatives from the Abandoned Vehicles Unit will travel to Wigan to give a presentation about the scheme to the Award judges on January 20.

The winners will be announced prior to the charity's annual conference in Edinburgh in March.