Hot line number created to speed up removal

One of Merton Council’s District Housing offices has created a telephone hotline in a bid to get abandoned vehicles removed fast and effectively from the borough’s housing estates.

Following an increase in the number of vehicles being left on housing land, 200 have been removed by the Wimbledon housing office alone this year, the hotline has been set up to allow tenants to call the council as soon as they spot a dumped vehicle.

Wimbledon’s district housing team can then kick start the process of getting the vehicle out of the estate for free.

Running in tandem with the hotline is another scheme that allows residents on Wimbledon’s housing estates to hand in the log books of any unwanted vehicles to the district office who will then be able to remove the vehicles much quicker.

Councillor Edith Macauley, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “This is a great opportunity for residents of the Wimbledon housing estates and the Phipps Bridge estate to work alongside Merton and get abandoned vehicles off the streets.

“We have to pull together and stop the tide of abandoned vehicles being left on our estates, they’re unsafe, unsightly and unwanted by residents and the council.”

The hotline number and information line is 020 8545 4575.