Regulation 12 Steps to be taken to find the owners of certain vehicles

(1)

For the purposes of section 4(1)(c) of the 1978 Act and section 101(3)(c) of the 1984 Act, the steps to be taken by an authority to find a person appearing to them to be the owner of the vehicle in a case to which either of those paragraphs applies shall be such of the following steps as are applicable to the vehicle:—

(a)

if the vehicle carried a G.B. registration mark—

(i)

the authority shall ascertain from the records maintained by the Secretary of State in connection with any functions exercisable by him by virtue of the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 the name and address of the person by whom the vehicle is kept and used;

(ii)

the authority shall, where they have found the name and address of a person who may be the owner of the vehicle from the records maintained by the Secretary of State as aforesaid, send a notice to that person in the manner prescribed by the next following regulation giving the specified information, stating whether the vehicle has been removed from the place at which it appeared to have been abandoned, and if so to what place, stating that if he is the owner of the vehicle they require him to remove the vehicle from their custody on or before a specified date, being the date when the relevant period prescribed by regulation 14 of these Regulations will expire, and stating that unless it is removed by him on or before that date they intend to dispose of it; and

(iii)

the authority shall give the specified information and a description of the place of abandonment to the chief officer of the police force in whose area is the place at which the vehicle appeared to have been abandoned (unless the authority is that officer) and the specified information to H.P. Information Ltd., and shall enquire of each person to whom the information is given whether that person can make any enquiries to find the owner of the vehicle;

(b)

if the vehicle does not carry a G.B. registration mark but carries a mark indicating registration in Northern Ireland the authority shall give the specified information and a description of the place of abandonment to the chief officer of the police force in whose area is the place at which the vehicle appeared to have been abandoned (unless the authority is that officer) and to the Secretary of State for Transport and the specified information to H.P. Information Ltd., and shall enquire of each person to whom the information is given whether that person can make any enquiries to find the owner of the vehicle;

(c)

if the vehicle does not carry a G.B. registration mark but carries a mark indicating registration in the Republic of Ireland, the authority shall give the specified information and a description of the place of abandonment to the Secretary of State for Transport, and to the chief officer of the police force in whose area is the place at which the vehicle appeared to have been abandoned (unless the authority is that officer), and shall enquire of each person to whom the information is given whether that person can make any enquiries to find the owner of the vehicle;

(d)

if the vehicle does not carry a G.B. registration mark but carries a mark indicating registration in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or any country not mentioned in the foregoing sub-paragraphs of this paragraph, the authority shall give the specified information and a description of the place of abandonment to the chief officer of the police force in whose area is the place at which the vehicle appeared to have been abandoned (unless the authority is that officer), and the specified information to H.P. Information Ltd., and shall enquire of each person to whom the information is given whether that person can make any enquiries to find the owner of the vehicle;

(e)

if the vehicle does not carry a G.B. registration mark or any other registration mark, then—

(i)

if the authority is the chief officer of the police force in whose area is the place at which the vehicle appeared to have been abandoned, that officer shall apply to the local authority in whose area is that place, giving the specified information and enquiring whether that authority has any information as to who is the owner of the vehicle; or

(ii)

if the authority is the local authority in whose area is the place at which the vehicle appeared to have been abandoned, the authority shall apply to the chief officer of the police force in whose area is that place, giving the specified information and enquiring whether that officer has any information as to who is the owner of the vehicle.

For the purposes of this sub-paragraph “local authority” means—

(aa)

in relation to England, the council of a county, a metropolitan district or a London borough, or the Common Council of the City of London or an authority established under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1985 ^f1 ;

(bb)

in relation to Scotland, a regional or islands or district Council; and

(cc)

in relation to Wales, the council of a district.

(2)

Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this regulation shall require an authority to take any such step as is therein mentioned if they have found a person who appears to them to be the owner of that vehicle and they have sent him a notice in the manner prescribed by the next following regulation containing the specified information, stating that if he is the owner of that vehicle they require him to remove the vehicle from their custody on or before a specified date, being the date when the relevant period prescribed by regulation 14 of these Regulations will expire, and stating that unless it is removed by him on or before that date they intend to dispose of it.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1985 c.51.