Scrap car plea

The councillors discovered that Adur District Council has no means of lawfully storing or disposing of vehicles if they are removed.

This means, according to the councillors, that Adur effectively has no way of removing the 100 or so abandoned cars currently on its streets.

Labour leader Daniel Yates said: "The staff of Adur Watch are having to take the blame for the failures of Tory-controlled West Sussex County Council.

"There are over 100 cars waiting to be removed and we have to make sure that West Sussex give us the power to restart removing them.

"Adur residents deserve to have their streets free from abandoned cars, and for the Tory-controlled county council to hold up the process is bureaucratic red tape and doesn't help local residents a bit."

A West Sussex County Council spokesman said: "We are fully committed to the removal of abandoned vehicles from our streets and open spaces.

"Currently we are working to develop a long term solution for the county in partnership with Sussex Police, Arun and Chichester district councils and the DVLA, through a pilot scheme entitled Operation Crackdown.

"This pilot is currently being operated in the Arun and Chichester districts.

"Through enhanced partnership working, this project speeds up the removal of abandoned vehicles using existing police powers, aimed at removing vehicles within 72 hours of being reported.

"WSCC are already working to put into place the necessary legal agreements to enable Adur District Council to continue to remove any abandoned vehicle for storage or disposal.

"It is easy for councillor Daniel Yates to try to apportion blame, but it does need to be recognised that everyone shares in the problems of these vehicles.

"The problem can be dealt with successfully only in a partnership approach."