London 'graveyard for dumped cars'

LONDON is becoming a "dumped car graveyard" with the number of hazardous abandoned vehicles soaring, a study warns today.

Two years ago, 100,000 dumped cars littered UK roads. Today, there are a million - with the "lion's share" in the capital.

More than 85per cent of London residents claim to have had a car dumped in their neighbourhood in the past two weeks, compared with around 80per cent in other parts of the country.

The cars are a serious danger to children and make life a misery for householders, who find vehicles dumped, and then systematically vandalised, on their doorstep, says the study.

Research from Channel 4's new online motoring channel -4car.co.uk - warns the situation will spiral out of control in London unless action is taken.

The study recommends that London councils launch a major publicity campaign telling residents that they can call council officials to remove dumped cars free of charge before they become a danger. It also proposes a 5,000 fine for dumping instead of the current 1,000.

Most London councils claim to remove a car after one week; however, more than a third of survey respondents say it routinely takes five weeks.

The survey, which is being handed to Downing Street today, says the crisis, triggered by the falling value of scrap metal, is not confined to the city.

Towns, villages and rural areas are also suffering, with two- thirds of all respondents in the 2,500-person survey claiming to have had a car dumped in their area within the past fortnight.

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