Stalemate over burnt-out car near wedding venue

The owner of a wedding venue is pleading with police and the local authority to get a burnt-out car that was abandoned on her land nearly three months ago moved.

Liz Clapham reported the Land Rover as abandoned in Great Hatfield, near Hornsea, East Yorkshire, in June.

The owner of the wedding venue and nearby holiday cottages said it was "not a good look" for guests.

Humberside Police said the owner of the vehicle had been identified and the matter had been passed on to the local authority. But East Riding of Yorkshire Council said that because the car was the subject of an ongoing investigation, it was a matter for the police.

Clapham, whose business also includes a caravan site at Clapham Holme Farm, said she reported the car to Humberside Police a few days after it was left on her land on 24 June.

"Then we never heard anything else," she said.

"So I rang them again a few weeks later and they said, 'Oh, it's nothing to do with the police, it's to do with the council'."

She said she had contacted ERYC, which said it would look into it, but she has not heard anything since.

"I just feel like we're not being listened to," she said. "It's not a good look for us.

"Every time we have guests staying with us in the holiday cottages, they always mention it. And then [for] weddings, guests pass and brides pass.

"It's quite annoying that it's been left this long, right through the holiday season and right through my wedding season."

Local authorities have a duty to remove abandoned vehicles from land in the open air, including on private land. In East Yorkshire, abandoned vehicles can be reported via the council's website.

A Humberside Police spokesperson said: "Inquiries were conducted to establish the reasons for the vehicle's location, [and] the owner was identified and contacted. This was therefore passed to the local authority and for the vehicle owner to arrange removal."

Humberside Fire and Rescue said it was called to the scene late last Friday to deal with what it called "deliberate ignition".

Police confirmed they were investigating the arson.

ERYC told the BBC that it remained a matter for the police and the car owner's insurance company.

A spokesperson said: "If the owner does not recover the vehicle, the vehicle would become the property of the insurance company with regards to any payments. This would be for the police to arrange and not the council, due to the vehicle being evidence and part of an ongoing investigation."

Clapham said it meant she was no closer to managing to get the car taken away.

She added that her message to both the police and the council was, "Will you please talk to each other and get this sorted?"

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