Nuisance vehicles in the street

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005

Nuisance vehicles can be either vehicles for sale on the road or vehicles being repaired on the road. For abandoned or dumped vehicles, see our page on abandoned vehicles. 

Contents

• Selling vehicles on the street

• Repairing vehicles on the street

• Enforcement and penalties

• Parking disputes

• Selling or repairing vehicles at a domestic property    

Selling vehicles on the street

An offence is committed if two or more motor vehicles are:

• either exposed or advertised for sale, and

• left on a road or roads within 500m of each other

by a person acting for the purpose of a business of selling motor vehicles.

This offence is aimed at certain garages and businesses that sell motor vehicles and park them for long periods of time on the road, which can cause a nuisance to local residents. The provision is not aimed at individuals selling cars privately.

Repairing vehicles on the street

Repairing vehicles on a road may be an offence. This is to stop people who use the road as a workshop. Doing so can be a danger to other people and the local environment, for example through oil spills. It also takes up parking space.

You cannot carry out restricted works to vehicles on a road if:

• it is during the course of a business, or

• it is for gain or reward

or, if neither of the above applies:

• it still gives reasonable cause for annoyance to people in the vicinity.

Restricted works include:

• works for the repair, maintenance, servicing, improvement or dismantling of a motor vehicle or of any part of or accessory to a motor vehicle

• works for the installation, replacement or renewal of any such part or accessory

The only exception is that if the repairs are carried out following an accident or break down where it was necessary to do the repairs on the spot or within 72 hours.

Enforcement and penalties

A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable to a fine not exceeding £2,500 in the magistrates' court.

The Council does not use fixed penalty notices for this offence (but offenders may be prosecuted in accordance with our enforcement and prosecution policy).

Parking disputes

If a parking space is available on a public road, even if it’s directly outside your house, anyone is allowed to park in it. This can be frustrating, especially if spaces are hard to come by on your street, but is not a matter for the local authority or the police.

We also cannot deal with poorly parked vehicles or vehicles causing an obstruction.

If vehicles are parked in breach of local parking regulations, for example on double yellow lines, report this to parking services. If a vehicle is causing a danger or obstruction, contact the police on 101.

Selling or repairing vehicles at a domestic property

The offences under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 apply only to activity on a public road.

There is generally no prohibition on working from home or running a business from home, and this is increasingly common. However, where the property has a material change to enable a business to be operated, then normally planning consent would be required.

A business operating from home may also have to pay business rates on the part of the property used for business, depending on what the Valuation Office Agency decides. Someone operating a home-based businesses should speak to the planning department if intending to make to make alterations to the home. Further information from Government can be found here and there may be other tax and insurance issues.