Thousands more abandoned cars will litter Britain as the country adopts tough European rules on recycling, a committee of MPs has forecast .

Party Response: Conservative

Theresa May, shadow environment secretary, said: “This report confirms that it will be the council taxpayer who will have to pick up the bill for government’s inability to tackle car disposal effectively. Yet again, they have signed up to European legislation, which they do not fully understand, and are ill prepared to implement.

“The fall in scrap metal prices has meant that owners no longer receive cash from scrap dealers for their old cars. Because there are no proper disposal schemes in place, we are witnessing abandoned and often burnt out vehicles in our cities and in the countryside. As a result, it is local authorities, and ultimately the council tax payer who will have to foot the bill for government's failure to act.”

Forum Response: Vauxhall Motors

A spokesperson for Vauxhall told ePolitix.com: "We support the principle behind the European ELV Directive, and we are currently seeking ways to achieve the objectives of the directive in the most economically efficient manner.

"Vauxhall is actively working with the DTI on conditions relating to further regulations. For many years we have been developing a range of incentives, such as designing vehicles for recycling, using materials from renewable sources and developing uses for recycled materials. A voluntary agreement has been signed to reduce the amount of automotive waste going to landfill from 25 per cent in 1997 to five per cent in 2015.

"We will take back vehicles first registered from 1 July 2002 at no cost to the owner and ensure that the conditions are met."

Forum Response: Cleanaway

Gill Weeks from Cleanaway told ePolitix.com: "These directives are yet further examples of where the UK signs up to EU legislation without knowing exactly what is involved.

"Too often the regulators and industry are not consulted when the proposals are being debated in Europe.

"We were caught unawares with fridges and here we have the WEEE directive that has no de minimis so it looks as if it will apply to talking teddy bears in the same way as it applies to major electrical equipment.

"The ELV legislation is woefully late being implemented, it should have been in place by April 2002, and we still do not know exactly how it will affect us.

"Sadly there are parallels with the Hazardous Waste Regulations that were also due in 2002.

"The uncertainty caused by late implementation of legislation in the UK means that industry is reluctant to invest and it is difficult for producers of the waste to plan for the future."