PUT THE BRAKES ON WASTE BRITAIN - Davey

12.46.56pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 5th Jul 2005

New figures uncovered by Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, show that, if laid end-to-end, the amount of cars left abandoned in Britain would be enough to stretch from London to Berlin. It follows from the government's decision in June 2003 that the last owner of the vehicle would continue to have responsibility for its disposal, rather than the manufacturer, as is standard practice throughout the EU.

Congleton campaigner and MEP Researcher Simon Davey says:

"I am appalled that the Government, which likes to pretend it's green, is in actual fact presiding over Waste Britain. This enormous heap of abandoned cars represents yet another entry to the long list of environmental neglect and decay with which communities are blighted. Britain is facing enough abandoned cars to stretch from London to Berlin. That is the equivalent of 607 cars being dumped per day and it is about time the government put the breaks on Waste Britain. Every abandoned car has 'government incompetence' written all over it".