A quartet of ministers have pledged further action to reduce the number of abandoned vehicles left on the nation's streets.

With more than 300,000 vehicles being dumped illegally in England, the ministers set out the latest government strategy for dealing with the problem.

In a sign of joined up government thinking on the issue, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Home Office, the Department of Transport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs all gave their backing to the strategy.

The government believes abandoned cars act as "a magnet for crime, anti-social behaviour and arson."

And with more than one million more cars uninsured and untaxed for more than three months and with no current keeper, there are fears the problem could grow in the future.

The new national strategy will give local authorities more powers to immediately seize and destroy vehicles causing a nuisance.

There will also be a move to "make the polluter pay", with increased fees and charges to better reflect the cost of removal and storage.

Strategy

It is hoped the strategy will, by 2008, cut the number of abandoned vehicles to less than 250,000 - half the predicted total of 500,000.

ODPM minister Keith Hill said the vehicles were a "blight neighbourhoods across the country".

"The government is committed to ridding the streets of this eyesore," he said.

"We have worked together across government and with those delivering services to develop our national strategy, which will ensure every local authority has the power they need to be able to remove nuisance vehicles immediately to a place of safety."

Home Office minister Hazel Blears said a London-wide scheme called "operation scrap-it" had led the way in showing how to deal with the problem.

All London boroughs offer a free take-back service, with owners risking imprisonment or a fine of up to £2,500 if they dump a car. Abandoned vehicles are also being taken away and crushed by local councils.

Road safety minister David Jamieson said the government would give police forces access to insurance databases to allow them to identify uninsured vehicles.

And rural affairs minister Alun Michael said the scheme would help to create "communities that are safe and attractive places in which to live, with public places that people and their families want to use".

Mixed reaction

The strategy brought a critical response form the Conservatives, however.

Shadow local government secretary Eric Pickles said Labour had "neglected and betrayed urban Britain."

"The number of cars being dumped has shot up by 38 per cent over the last two years alone," he said.

"The Conservatives have already pledged to use their growing councillor base to take on Labour 'street by street' on crime and urban decay, tackling yob behaviour, improving the  quality of life for local communities and restoring respect, instead of just looking for attention grabbing headlines."

And shadow home affairs minister Andrew Mitchell highlighted the need for more than just words on the issue.

"The problem of abandoned cars affects the whole community," he said.

"It creates an atmosphere of lawlessness and increases the fear of crime for all those who encounter it."

In contrast the Local Government Association welcomed the move, saying it had long been urging the government to adopt the measures.

Councillor David Sparks, chairman of the LGA's environment board, said: "We are delighted that the government has taken on board our concerns in its nuisance vehicles strategy.

"Earlier this year, our abandoned vehicles survey highlighted the fact that clapped-out vehicle abandonment is getting worse and that councils needed additional powers and support to take action to reduce this complex problem.

"We particularly welcome the government's recognition of local authorities' success in reducing the scale of the problem already and are pleased to see that it will better co-ordinate its actions, and work with local authorities as they develop co-ordinated strategies to reduce the number of unlicensed vehicles, abandonment and related car crime."