Coastline scarred by dumped cars (From Western Telegraph)

Coastline scarred by dumped cars

THE END of the road for these clapped out motors is a beautiful location in the National Park.

Every week National Park rangers come across dumped vehicles at viewpoints, car parks and even at the side of the highway.

Its a similar story for staff of Pembrokeshire County Council, the authority responsible for removing abandoned vehicles.

With no scrap value for the vehicles and a fee charged to take it away to a scrapyard, owners are just resorting to dumping them wherever they can. Recently, vehicles have been abandoned at many of the countys outstanding beauty spots including Garn Fawr, near Strumble Head; Sychbant picnic site in the Gwaun Valley; Porthgain Harbour; Amroth, Saundersfoot, Freshwater East, Solva, Newport, Pwllgwaelod and Canaston Bridge, plus at various roadside locations.

Park ranger Ian Meopham has seen a marked increase in the number of abandoned vehicles in recent months.

Some people just dont care where they dump their old car, he said. Recently one was driven down to Porthgain, left on the harbour wall with the keys in the ignition and the lights on. Someone could easily have opened the door, released the handbrake and pushed it over the harbour wall.

Ian added: Some of our most beautiful locations are being scarred by abandoned vehicles. An irresponsible minority are doing great harm to our communities, to our landscape and to our tourism industry.

Pembrokeshire County Council has the responsibility for removing dumped vehicles and the problem is getting worse each year.

In 1999, some 602 abandoned vehicles were reported. The following year that figure had almost doubled to 1,032, while last year it had grown to 1,410.

In the months of April and May this year alone, 285 dumped motors were reported to the council.

It is an increasing problem, admitted Fred Mountney, head of Pembrokeshire County Councils municipal services.

The authority has a hotline number (0845 602 1386) for members of the public to ring and report an abandoned vehicle.

The council will then tag the vehicle, giving the owner seven days in which to remove it. If, after that time, the vehicle has not been moved, the council will arrange for it to be towed away and crushed at a breakers yard.

The problem at the moment is that this service costs the authority money, explained Mr Mountney. As well as the removal charges, scrapyards now charge between £10 to £20 per vehicle.

We are now looking at ways in which we can recoup the expense by working with the DVLA in Swansea and identifying the last registered owner so that at least we can recoup our costs.