Litter Act, 1982

Disposal by local authorities of vehicles etc. removed under sections 11 and 12 .

13.—(1) (a) Where the name and address of the owner of a vehicle removed and stored under section 11 of this Act can be ascertained by the local authority concerned by reasonable inquiry, the authority shall serve a notice in the prescribed form or in a form to the like effect upon the owner informing him of the removal and storage and of the address of the place where the vehicle may be claimed and recovered, requiring him to claim and recover it within two weeks of the date of the service of the notice and informing him of the statutory consequences of his failure to do so.

(b) Where a vehicle or other article is removed from any land and stored under section 12 (4) of this Act, the local authority concerned shall serve a notice in the prescribed form or in a form to the like effect upon the occupier (if any) of the land from which the vehicle or other article was removed and any other person who kept the vehicle or article on the land and whose identity is known to the local authority informing them of the storage and of the address of the place where the vehicle or article may be claimed and recovered, requiring them to claim and recover it within two weeks of the date of the service of the notice and informing them of the statutory consequences of their failure to do so.

(2) A vehicle or other article removed and stored under the said section 11 or 12 shall be given to a person claiming the vehicle or article if, but only if, he makes a declaration in the prescribed form or in a form to the like effect stating that he is the owner of the vehicle or article or is authorised by its owner to claim it and pays the amount of the expenditure reasonably incurred by the local authority concerned under this Act in respect of the vehicle or article.

(3) The local authority concerned may dispose or procure the disposal of a vehicle removed and stored under section 11 of this Act if—

(a) the owner of the vehicle fails to claim the vehicle and remove it from the place where it is stored within two weeks of the date on which a notice under subsection (1) (a) of this section was served on him, or

(b) the name and address of the owner of the vehicle cannot be ascertained by the local authority by reasonable inquiry.

(4) The local authority concerned may dispose or procure the disposal of a vehicle or other article removed and stored under section 12 (4) of this Act if the occupier (if any) of the land from which the vehicle or article was removed or the person who kept the vehicle or article on the land fails to claim the vehicle or article and remove it from the place where it is stored within two weeks of the date on which a notice under subsection (1) (b) of this section was served on him.

(5) A vehicle or other article shall not be disposed of under this section within one month of the date of its removal under section 11 or 12 of this Act.

(6) (a) Where, in relation to—

(i) a vehicle removed by a local authority under section 11 or 12 of this Act, or

(ii) a vehicle (being an abandoned vehicle or a vehicle which appears to have been abandoned) removed by or on the authority of a road authority under section 97 (inserted by the Road Traffic Act, 1968) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 ,

the local authority or the road authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the condition of the vehicle is such that it is incapable of being used as a vehicle and cannot by the expenditure of a reasonable amount of money be rendered capable of being so used, the local authority or the road authority, as the case may be, may, notwithstanding anything in this or any other Act, dispose of the vehicle at any time after the removal aforesaid without having stored it and without having served upon any person, or published, a notice in relation to the vehicle.

(b) In paragraph (a) of this subsection “abandoned” and “road authority” have the same meanings as in the Road Traffic Act, 1961 .

(7) A person who makes a declaration under subsection (2) of this section that is false or misleading shall be guilty of an offence.