http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2005/06/10/story7221704t0.shtm

Lout drivers face car confiscation

Police in Tayside have been given new powers to confiscate the vehicles of irresponsible drivers, writes Stefan Morkis.

The powers will be used to crack down on motorists whose behaviour causes alarm, distress or annoyance to the public through the anti-social use of their vehicles.

Drivers who cause a disturbance by screeching tyres, speeding or even playing their car stereos too loud could face having their vehicles taken away.

To reclaim them, drivers must provide proof of ownership and pay a fee of £105, plus £12 for every 24 hours the car is locked up in a police garage.

Tayside Police have been working closely with other agencies, such as local councils and courts, to gain maximum benefit for the public since the implementation of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act.

Detective Superintendent Jim Cameron, deputy head of crime management at Tayside Police, welcomed the powers available to officers.

“The new powers give police officers an additional, effective means of dealing with low-level, anti-social and nuisance offending involving the use of motor vehicles,” he said.

He said that before they were introduced, officers had dealt with these types of offences by issuing verbal warnings, cautioning and charging and arresting people or reporting them for summons or issuing a non- endorsable conditional offer of a fixed penalty.

“The new scheme will be used to combat problems such as the anti-social use of motor vehicles in built-up areas — screeching of tyres, excessive noise, loud music playing whilst the vehicle is moving, speeding and any other occasion where a motor vehicle is being used inconsiderately or without due care and attention,” said DS Cameron.

“A person and/or a vehicle contravening the Act for a second time, who has a current valid warning marker in place, will have their vehicle seized.

“A person whose motor vehicle is seized must, in order to re-claim the vehicle, provide proof of ownership and pay a fee of £105 plus £12 storage per 24-hour period the garage premises stores the vehicle.”

In Aberdeen, police have used powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act to designate the city’s seafront area as a dispersal area, meaning boy racers can be banned from the area for 24 hours.