Police are helping council to clear Vale Church car park

The initiative was launched after the Vale Commons Council highlighted the problem to Guernsey Police.

Roads policing sergeant Tom Marshall said officers would look at other areas with a similar problem, with Les Genats Estate the next to be targeted.

Council president Peter Blake said its members had checked the church car park, as well as the one by L’Ancresse Lodge and Lucksall, and identified 26 cars that were parked without valid insurance discs or they considered were in an unroadworthy state.

‘We went to our contact at the police and we have had help from them,’ he said.

Mr Blake said the council could do little because they could not get in touch with owners due to data protection legislation.

But the police have access to that information and last week contacted owners and put up signs warning drivers that it was illegal to park unroadworthy cars in those areas.

Anyone who had not removed their vehicle by last Sunday was warned they could face police action.

Having a vehicle uninsured in a public place can lead to a 12-month driving ban as well as a fine.

Mr Blake said they had already seen an improvement.

‘It’s working really well,’ he said.

‘Some have already disappeared – as soon as the signs went up. We are pleased to see it improving.’

There has been a long-standing problem with cars being abandoned in the church car park.

In 2013, the council applied to make it terre a l’amende in a bid to tackle the issue, but the application was thrown out after it was determined that the council was not the owner of the site.

Mr Blake said while the council was the custodian of the site, the entire common is made up of many small parcels of land.

‘The car park is made up of several parcels of land and we have not been able to find anyone with a legal title,’ Mr Blake said.

‘If we could find just one person with the legal papers, but we haven’t managed to do that.’

Mr Blake said they were keen to see the car park used by people using the common, church and nearby shops and not as a dumping ground for vehicles.

But for now they had to rely on police help.

‘Work to clear the Vale Church car park came following a number of complaints,’ said Sergeant Marshall.

‘Parish officials have been working with our neighbourhood policing team to clear the area and report the registered keepers of the vehicles for any offences.

‘Just over a week ago, officers marked those which were parked without third party insurance or were considered to be unroadworthy.

‘Nine vehicles were identified, of which three were removed by the owners ahead of the deadline of last Sunday.

‘The remainder will be removed by us over the next few days and taken to the police compound under the Removal of Vehicles Ordinance.

‘Under the law, no court approval is needed for this process, we can remove any vehicle which appears to be abandoned.

‘Such vehicles take up valuable space in often limited parking areas, and as well as breaking the law, the vehicle owners’ actions have a negative effect on the ambience of the surrounding area.

‘The clearance of vehicles from the Vale Church car park is the start of a larger campaign which will target other locations which are known to be a problem.’