A Northumberland man has been fined for abandoning his Ford Fiesta van illegally on Cowpen Road, Blyth following an investigation by Northumberland County Council. 
 

Dale Thirtle, 34, of Woodhorn Villas, Ashington, Northumberland was found guilty at the Single Justice Magistrates Court on Friday 24th March of abandoning his vehicle on Cowpen Road, Blyth after he failed to respond to a Notice to collect the vehicle.  

He was sentenced to a fine of £440 for the offence, ordered to pay £300.57 in costs and a victim surcharge of £176 - a total financial penalty of £916.57. 

During August 2022 Northumberland County Council received reports that a Ford Fiesta van registration number ML09 VMA had been abandoned on the street at Cowpen Road, Blyth. 

Officers from the council’s Environmental Enforcement Team went to investigate and deemed that it had been abandoned and had it removed from the area. 

Thirtle, who was identified as the owner, was served with a Notice requiring him to collect his vehicle and pay the removal costs, which he ignored. 

The vehicle which belonged to Thirtle was stored for seven days and then destroyed at an authorised End-of-Life Vehicle registered site. 

Thirtle declined to be interviewed by a member of the council’s enforcement team but said that he had sold the vehicle to an unnamed person, however he was still the registered owner and had the vehicles V5 document in his possession. 

Northumberland County Councillor Colin Horncastle, Cabinet member for Community Service said: 

“Abandoning a vehicle is a criminal offence and will not be tolerated in Northumberland.  

“I hope this case serves as a warning that people must dispose of their vehicles properly. Leaving them abandoned can attract antisocial behaviour, are an eye-sore for local residents, and a safety hazard. It would have been much cheaper for this man to have paid someone to get rid of the vehicle legally than to wind up before the magistrates, with a hefty fine and a criminal record.“