Summary: The Council is not at fault for removing the complainant’s boat and trailer from a road and wanting him to pay fees for their return. The Council properly followed the law.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly removed his boat and trailer from a road then destroyed them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the complaint Mr X made and discussed it with him. I asked the Council for information and considered this. I also considered the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 and associated charging regulations.
4. I gave the Council and Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

Law and policy

The Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978

5. The Council has a duty to remove a vehicle from a road when it considers someone has abandoned it. It does not have to notify the owner before removing the vehicle. If the Council has not destroyed the vehicle and the owner pays the prescribed charges for removal and storage, the Council will allow the owner to take the vehicle.
6. The Act says “motor vehicle means a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads, whether or not it is in a fit state for such use, and includes any trailer intended or adapted for use as an attachment to such a vehicle, any chassis or body, with or without wheels, appearing to have formed part of such a vehicle or trailer and anything attached to such a vehicle or trailer.”
7. Councils can only charge what the regulations allow. London Councils, an organisation that represents London’s 32 boroughs and the City of London, sets the fees and charges for London. Since 2007 every London council charges £200 to remove a vehicle, £40 a day for storage and £70 for disposal.

The Council’s policy

8. The Council has criteria for deciding if a vehicle is abandoned, it will only remove the vehicle if it meets one of the criteria. The criteria include:

• The vehicle has not moved in a month.
• It is run down and not in use, has flat tyres or missing wheels.
• The vehicle has no number plates.

9. It says even if someone owns the vehicle it can class it as abandoned if it meets the criteria.
10. If the Council removes a vehicle with a registration plate it will contact the DVLA for the owner’s details. It will then write to the owner telling him or her about the fees they have to pay and giving 7 days to pay before it disposes of the vehicle.
11. The Council does not give parking permits for boats as they do have a vehicle registration plate, preventing parking enforcement.

What happened

12. In 2018 Mr X bought a small boat in need of repair. He says he intended to repair it so his children could use it. Mr X left the boat on a trailer in a road near to where he lives, but not the road he lives on. He left it in a residents parking bay next to a sign that said the bay is permit holder owner or to pay by phone. The sign says the maximum stay when paying to park is 1 hour. Mr X does not have a parking permit and did not pay to use the bay.
13. In April 2018 a resident complained about the boat and trailer. The resident said the boat and trailer had been there for several months and took up more than one parking space due to its length. The Council sent an inspector out.
14. In July and August 2018 the Council received more complaints the boat and trailer were still there. An inspector visited on 10 and 13 August. On 13 August the Council put a notice on the boat saying it would remove it. On 14 August the Council removed the boat and trailer and took them to a compound.
15. Pictures taken by the Council show the boat and trailer in a poor condition. The trailer had flat tyres. The photographs also show the removal notice the Council put on the boat. Pictures on Google Earth from May 2018 show the boat and trailer in the same place the Council removed them from in August.
16. The Council did not contact Mr X. The trailer did not have a registration plate and there was no way the Council could identify who owned it.
17. Mr X noticed the boat had gone and contacted the Council. It told him what he had to pay to get the boat back.
18. On 23 August Mr X complained to the Council. The Council replied on 28 August and explained the Council’s duty under the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act.
19. Mr X complained again on 17 September. He said wanted the boat back free of charge. He said this was the third vehicle he owned the Council had removed. He said the Council had put a notice on the other two. On 22 October the Council replied it had legally removed the boat and Mr X had to pay to get it back. It said if he wanted the boat back, he needed to pay soon or it would destroy it.
20. Mr X contacted the Council on 4 December 2018 to say he needed more time to arrange to get the boat. The Council gave him until 13 December. On 13 December he said he needed more time.
21. On 21 December the Council wrote to Mr X. It said the accumulated fees and storage charges now added up to £5,080. It said it would release the boat for £1,500 and gave Mr X until 11 January 2019. If Mr X did not pay it would destroy the boat after 11 January.
22. On 14 January 2019 the Council reminded Mr X of its offer to accept £1,500 and extended the deadline to 24 January.
23. On 21 January 2019 Mr X tried to make a new complaint. He said he intended to sue the Council for loss and suffering. He said he did not abandon the boat and the Council had not notified him. The Council did not take a new complaint from Mr X as it dealt with the same issue in August and October 2018.
24. On 25 January 2019 Mr X asked the Council to hold onto the boat while the complained to us. The Council refused and destroyed the boat and trailer.

Analysis

25. Mr X left a boat and trailer in a permit only bay. He should not have done this. He left them there for at least four months. The Council is not at fault for removing the boat and trailer. The length of time Mr X left the boat there and the condition of the boat and trailer met the criteria for removal in the Council’s policy.
26. Mr X believes the Council should have notified him of its intentions. The Council does not have to do this. It could not contact him because the trailer and boat had no vehicle registration, so it had no way if finding out who owned the boat and trailer. I have also seen evidence the Council did put a notice on the boat the day before it removed it.
27. Mr X believes the Council had no right to charge him for removal and storage. The law allows this and the Council charged the correct fees. The law says the Council does not have to release the vehicle until the owner pays the fees and charges. The Council showed flexibility. It extended the time it kept the boat and offered to accept a reduced payment.
28. Mr X says the Council should have served a fixed penalty notice on him for a parking offence. The Council could not do this as the trailer did not have a vehicle registration. The Council can only serve a fixed penalty notice on a registered vehicle.
29. Mr X says the Council should have waited until we had dealt with his complaint before disposing of the boat and trailer. I am not critical of the Council for this. It usually gives 7 days to pay. It gave Mr X four months.

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Final decision

30. I have seen no evidence of fault by the Council. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman