Elena Gocmen Rueda
THE Royal Gibraltar Police have launched a campaign to deal with the annoyingly high number of abandoned cars cluttering up streets on the Rock.
Last week they removed 50 vehicles from car parks at Catalan Bay, Land Port Ditch, Camp Bay and Western Beach in a bid to free up public parking spaces.
Those vehicles with expired MOTs, dangerous damage that could injure the public and those in dire state of repair were removed first including one car that had an expired MOT dating from 2004.
“We have done an exhaustive operation searching for derelict vehicles… and are removing the majority of them. We hope to free up to about 50 parking spaces,” said Roads Policing Unit officer Stuart Anson.
The force has pointed out that registered owners face steep fees for abandoning cars, however the RGP offers a free removal service.
“All you have to do is hand us your key and log book and we will tow it away and dispose of it for free. That’s why it’s pointless abandoning it, you’ll get a fine and compound fees.”
A derelict vehicle ticket is £200, but this is reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days. The tow truck fee is £60 and storage at the compound is £15 per day.
If a vehicle is not collected by the owner, its details will be put in the Gibraltar Gazette, before it is disposed of at a later date.
“Derelict cars have always been a problem in Gibraltar, we are probably removing about 20 a month on average. We would remove more if we had more space in the compound,” added Stuart.
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