Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council wrongly removed the complainant’s car from a pub car park. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says a council officer, drinking in a pub, arranged for Mr X’s car to be removed. Mr X does not think officers should be reporting cars outside of working hours. Mr X wants his car back.

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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. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered information on the Council’s website and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Council policy

4. The Council may treat an untaxed vehicle as an abandoned vehicle. If the vehicle is dangerous, or of low value, the Council destroy it within 24 hours. In other cases the Council will serve a removal notice. It will destroy the vehicle if the owner does not collect the car. The owner can collect the car if they provide proof of ownership and pay the fees.
5. The law says a vehicle must be registered with DVLA and have vehicle tax.
6. The law also says a council can remove a vehicle from land in the open air. If the land is privately owned the Council must inform the landowner of its intention to remove the vehicle.

What happened

7. On 21 October the Council received a report from a pub landlord that a car had been left in the car park. An officer visited on 27 October and found the car was still there. The officer checked with DVLA and established there was no registered keeper and the car was untaxed. The Council served a seven day removal notice on 27 October. The Council did not receive any contact from anyone about the car. On 4 November the Council removed the car and placed it in storage.
8. Mr X complained to the Council. He said the Council could not remove a car from private land. He alleged the officer had removed the car because he is a friend of the pub landlord. Mr X accused officers of being corrupt. In response, on 10 and 25 November, the Council explained it had acted in response to a report from the landlord. It said it can remove a car from private land. It explained it would have contacted Mr X, before removal, if Mr X had been registered as the owner. The Council invited Mr X to collect the car and said it would destroy it if Mr X did not collect it within 21 days. The Council says Mr X made an appointment but did not collect the car. The Council says Mr X has not responded to further contacts. The Council will destroy the car if Mr X does not collect it soon.
9. Mr X says the Council removed the car after officers, drinking in the pub, made checks when they were not working. Mr X says the landlord confirmed this to the police. He says this is wrong and suggests there have been back-handers or corruption. He says the Council took seven weeks to tell him he could collect the car. Mr X says he had to leave the car in the car park because he had to self-isolate and this is also the reason why he has not collected the car.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council checked the car after it received a report from the landlord, not because officers had reported the car during a social visit. I have seen the email from the landlord of 21 October. Because the landlord contacted the Council, the Council was able to remove the car from private land because it already had consent from the land owner.
11. The Council found the car was still in the pub car park, a week after the landlord had reported it. The Council also found, after doing checks with DVLA, that the car was unregistered and untaxed. It checked with the police that they had no interest in the car. The Council then issued the removal notice. Mr X did not respond to the notice so the Council removed the car. The Council’s decision to remove the car is consistent with its policy, and the law, so there is no reason to start an investigation. In addition, while Mr X says he was self-isolating, he could have contacted the landlord to explain why he had had to leave the car and seek permission to leave it until he could collect it.
12. Mr X says the Council took seven weeks to tell him he could collect the car. The Council invited Mr X to collect the car on 10 and 25 November which is significantly less than seven weeks. Mr X also says other councils told him officers would not have removed the car; but I can only confirm I have seen no suggestion of fault in the actions of this council.

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Final decision

13. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman