Dumped

While in London in 2003 we ran across this dumped and vandalized vehicle in Camden Town during one of our walks through the neighbourhood.

Vehicle dumping is a huge problem in the UK; mostly because it costs people money to scrap their vehicles and rather than pay the fees vehicle owners simply leave their unwanted cars parked on a street and walk away. In 2003 more than 135,000 cars [pdf] were dumped in London alone. Once dumped most of these vehicles are picked apart, vandalized and / or torched.

By 2004 the London Councils started Operation Scrap-It where Londoners could report a dumped vehicle; within three days it is investigated, towed, de-polluted and crushed. In the first year after implementing Operation Scrap-it roughly 110,000 vehicles were taken off the streets.

The vehicle above was removed pretty quickly after I took the photo. The next day when we strolled by the same spot there was no trace that it had ever been there.