Aberdeen City Council is preparing to tow away almost 200 cars over the next year as part of its war on illegal parkers.
The local authority is determined to take action to tackle rogue motorists – with spaces in the city-centre at a premium and the Park and Ride at Bridge of Don being used as a dumping ground for unwanted bangers.
It is looking for a firm to remove as many as four vehicles a week to clear clogged-up on-street sites and the council’s own car parks.
Last night, Neil Cooney, who is convener of the local authority’s communities, housing and infrastructure committee, said the new contract would help address what has become an ongoing problem.
Mr Cooney, who represents Kincorth, Nigg and Cove, said: “Very often cars are abandoned in places like the Park and Ride for example, and sometimes you get cars that are stolen and then just left abandoned in car parks around the city.
“People just leave their cars and forget about them – a while ago there was a very flashy car that was left for months and months in the Chapel Street car park, that eventually had to be removed.
“It’s something that’s not getting better or worse, unfortunately it seems like something we just have to live and deal with.
“The city council has to remove about three or four illegally parked cars a week, on average.”
Midstocket and Rosemount councillor Bill Cormie said abandoned cars had become an issue in his parking-starved ward, and there was no sign of the problem getting any better.
Mr Cormie said: “I get complaints from constituents every couple of weeks, but it’s been an ongoing problem for years.
“I suppose that it has got worse in recent years, I would say.
“A parking space is very difficult to get a hold of these days, and if a car has been illegally parked or dumped it’s very quickly noticed, and brought to the attention of the local council and the police.
“A lot of them leave cars in places like Westburn Park, Richmond Walk and Cornhill Road, it’s a real problem trying to get a space, and they’re not the nicest things to have sat on the street.
“It’s normally rusty old bangers that just get abandoned.
“I’ve even had it on my own street, about four weeks ago I had one sat there taking up space until it was lifted.
“Parking is at a premium these days in the city, especially in Rosemount, so we need to make sure dumped cars get reported.”
According to council estimates, over the next year the local authority will have to remove approximately 190 illegally parked vehicles from streets in Aberdeen, particularly in the city centre.