Operation Scrap-it - tackling abandoned and untaxed cars in London

Operation Scrap-it was a highly successful London-wide campaign funded by the Home Office in order to get rid of untaxed and abandoned vehicles from London's streets. The initiative was designed to improve Londoners' quality of life by providing a Free Take Back service for those who wanted to surrender their vehicles and increasing the levels of enforcement against those who persisted in abandoning vehicles on the streets.

Remember, it is still illegal to dump or abandon a vehicle and you face prosecution if you do and you could also be prosecuted for keeping an unsafe vehicle on the road.

In the first six months of enforcement, Operation Scrap-it dealt with over 66,000 reports of nuisance vehicles.

Of these, boroughs were able to take legal action against around 38,700 and in over 98% of cases the vehicle was enforced against within 72 hours.

Over 26,000 of these vehicles were removed from the streets and nearly 17,000 were subsequently destroyed.

On top of the enforcement operation, 24,000 vehicles were voluntarily surrendered to councils in 2004-5.

According to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), which runs the London Fire Brigade, non-accidental vehicle fires were reduced by over half in the two years up to the end of March 2005.

DVLA have estimated that vehicle licence evasion in London has reduced from 4.7% to 2.4% in the same time period, the greatest such reduction in the country.

Drivers of untaxed vehicles may also be uninsured, which means that if they were involved in an accident, the other people involved would be unable to claim against them. This means that law-abiding motorists can face up to an additional £30 added to their yearly insurance premium.

To find out more contact your local council's Abandoned Vehicles Unit.