"Put them out of business" - says Liverpool MEP (Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats)

Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats <info@garstonld.org.uk>

"Put them out of business" - says Liverpool MEP

July 25, 2007 12:00 AM

Abandoned and vandalised car A North West Euro-MP has sent a fierce warning to hundreds of car dismantlers locally: "I am going to put you out of business!"

Liberal Democrat Chris Davies says that rogue operators are acting illegally and polluting the environment when they buy old cars from owners for cash-in-hand prices.

He is warning the public that they should only sell their old vehicles to dealers registered by the Environment Agency as having Approved Treatment Facilities (ATF), or they could find themselves in trouble with the law.

The End-of-Life Vehicles Directive, which became UK law in 2003, requires potential contaminants such as oil, brake fluid, tyres and airbags to be removed from cars before they are scrapped.

Old cars must be taken to one of 1,200 ATFs licensed by the Environment Agency. Car owners should be issued with a Certificate of Destruction to prove that the vehicle has been depolluted, scrapped lawfully and road tax is no longer due.

But many local illegal dismantlers are undercutting the ATF's by collecting cars and disposing of them illegally. With only around 900,000 Certificates of Destruction issued last year, latest figures suggest that as many as 1.1 million old cars are being unlawfully collected each year.

Almost all local newspapers carry classified advertisements offering the collection of scrap cars for cash. The majority of these advertisers use a mobile number to avoid being traced by the authorities.

Local MEP Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the European Parliament, warns that millions of car owners are placing themselves at risk of prosecution for failing to obtain a Certificate of Destruction from legitimate vehicle dismantlers in accordance with the rules.

Mr Davies commented: "If car owners are not issued with a CoD they cannot be sure the vehicle dismantler has been properly registered, that their car will be dismantled safely, or that the environment will be protected. They can be certain that the pollutants in their car will end up polluting the environment.

"If their car is in fact not scrapped but sold and driven on the road they could be liable for an £80 road tax fine after two weeks, with a further £1000 penalty if the car is driven untaxed. They would also have to pick up the tab for any parking or speeding fines incurred while someone else is driving the vehicle."

Mr Davies claims it is time for a Government crackdown to put the dodgy dismantlers out of business.

He said: "This law is good news for the environment but the entire scheme is undermined if these people can simply carry on letting oil and brake fluids wash down the nearest drain."

Genuine ATF's are struggling to stay in business as the illegal operators pick up the cars they should be treating. Licensed dismantlers have had to make large cash investments in equipment to meet the strict new standards.

Andy Kenny from the End of Life Vehicle Recyclers Association claims if nothing is done many local ATFs will close.

He said: "Many operators just aren't getting enough cars because they are being intercepted by the illegal operators. Genuine dismantlers face financial ruin if this situation is allowed to continue."