Report or claim an abandoned vehicle

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Any vehicle which appears to be abandoned should be reported to Wiltshire Council. The council may deem a vehicle abandoned for one or more of the following reasons:

• The vehicle is in a poor condition.
• The vehicle has not moved for a significant amount of time.
• The vehicle is burnt out.
• The vehicle has no registered keeper with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
• The vehicle is untaxed or on a valid Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) on the highway or public land

A vehicle is not deemed abandoned just because it's untaxed, please consider why you believe the vehicle is abandoned before notifying Wiltshire Council.

A vehicle which is being used or parked on the highway without a valid tax can be reported to the DVLA on 0292 075 3355 or by visiting the DVLA website.

You can use the  online reporting form if you wish to report an abandoned vehicle or call Wiltshire Council using the number at the bottom of this page.

Wiltshire Council operates a standard service across the County for dealing with abandoned vehicles. The council, under provisions in the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 has a duty, where practicable to remove vehicles deemed abandoned from land open to air.

Upon receipt of an abandoned vehicle report a council officer will inspect the vehicle within a target timeframe of 24 hours. If the vehicle is on private land the council must obtain written permission from the land owner before entering the property to inspect the vehicle. The council cannot remove vehicles from private land if the land owner objects to removal. If the vehicle is deemed abandoned a council officer will affix a 24 hour removal notice to the vehicle, if the vehicle is claimed within this 24hour period the council will not remove it.

If the vehicle is not claimed with 24 hours the council will remove it to storage for 7 days. At this point the owner is written to and given 7 days to collect the vehicle and pay any outstanding removal and storage costs. If the owner fails to claim the vehicle it will be destroyed and the last registered keeper will be responsible for all removal, storage and recovery costs. The council will actively seek to recoup all costs associated with dealing with the vehicle. In addition the last registered keeper may be issued with a fixed penalty notice, currently set at £200, for abandoning their vehicle.

You can use the online claim form if you wish to claim a vehicle

The following details will be required when reporting an abandoned vehicle:

• Registration number of the vehicle reported.
• Make, model and colour of vehicle.
• Exact location of vehicle (Including post code or a post code for a near property)
• How long the vehicle has been there
• Is the vehicle displaying a valid tax disc?
• Details of any known owner.
• Your name, address and phone no.

If no name, address and contact telephone number is provided when reporting an abandoned vehicle the vehicle will not be inspected. This information is a requirement of the DVLA to allow us to check ownership of the vehicle.

Last updated: 16 May 2011