Changes to statutory recovery/removal arrangements: new briefing note from FTA

The removal, storage and disposal of vehicles, which until now has been dealt with by individual police forces across the country, is being replaced by a national system on the motorway and trunk road network in England.

Under the scheme, Highways Agency (HA) traffic officers will have the power to remove, store and in some cases dispose of vehicles from England's motorways and trunk roads. Roll out of these new arrangements started in January in the East of England. Operators may still use their own suitable private recovery services and the Highways Agency will encourage this practice.

Alongside the introduction of these new powers, from 1 October 2008, charges for the statutory removal of vehicles also changed for England and Wales.

Separate arrangements exist in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Click here to download the FTA briefing note. This provides a:

• background to the changes and the decision framework that Highways Agency traffic officers will use
• a sample memo for operators to give to drivers summarising the operational implications of the changes
• a pro-forma incident report form for use by drivers

Members experiencing difficulties with the new arrangements are encouraged to email Trish Day tday@fta.co.uk with details of the problems encountered. FTA will then feed this back to Highway Agency which is closely monitoring the roll-out.