A man from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, has been prosecuted and ordered to pay £580 for abandoning a van in the village of Skirlaugh.
Octavian Boncea of Frederick Street, Barnsley, left a silver/grey 2007 Renault Master Van in a layby in Main Street, Skirlaugh for at least three months.
Boncea pleaded guilty to abandoning a vehicle when he appeared at Beverley Magistrates’ Court on Monday, September 21.
He was fined £200 and was ordered to pay £300 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.
The court heard the Renault van had been abandoned in the Skirlaugh layby since before Christmas 2025.
Despite Streetscene enforcement officers from East Riding Council contacting Boncea as the registered keeper and giving him numerous opportunities to remove the vehicle, he failed to move it.
Officers therefore recorded the van as being abandoned in March this year and arranged for it to be removed.
Abandoning a vehicle is a criminal offence. Where they are parked, the condition they are in, whether they have any mechanical defects or unsafe elements, can all cause a problem for the community.
Carl Skelton, director of Streetscene services at East Riding Council, said: “Abandoned vehicles are a nuisance and a safety hazard for those living nearby.
“We can usually resolve the situation with the owners and get them to move the vehicles themselves, but in cases like this we will step in to remove them and recover our costs.”
The council deals with vehicles which may be abandoned on both public and private property.
Officers investigate and always contact the registered owners to establish whether vehicles are abandoned.
As a result of investigations, most vehicles are removed by the owners, only a few have to be removed by the council.
Owners can be issued with a £200 fixed penalty notice for the offence, or a larger fine if the case is taken to court.
For more information or to report an abandoned vehicle visit eryc.link/abandonedvehicles
