FUNERAL director Charles Winchcombe faced a frustrating dilemma this week when his hearse was trapped in its garage by an abandoned car.

Mr Winchcombe, who has premises in New Park Street, Devizes, arrived at work on Saturday morning to find the B-reg MG Montego dumped in the entrance to his yard, making it impossible for any other vehicle to get in or out.

He said: "I rang the police but they said there was nothing they could do because it wasn't on public land or causing an obstruction."

Kennet District Council could not help either. Although it has a statutory responsibility for moving abandoned cars, it can take several weeks to do so because it has to serve notices on the registered owner of the car, and get written permission from the landowner to go on to his land to remove the vehicle.

Mr Winchcombe, a town and district councillor, said: "I don't know what I am going to do.

"But I'll have to shift it because I've got a funeral.

"Kennet's hands are tied in situations like this because once it has removed a car, it has to keep it for 21 days before it scraps it, in case the owner turns up and wants it back."

Abandoned cars are becoming an increasing problem.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, firefighters were called to the Wharf car park where an A-reg Audi 80, which had been parked for several days, had been set on fire.

Devizes Town Council has also complained about abandoned cars at the former Katherine McNeile Clinic.

Eddie Wiltshire, of Jones's scrap dealers at Caen Hill said he has had to put up a fence because of the number of cars being abandoned on his property.

He said: "Because of new regulations we have to be licensed to dispose of cars.

"It costs us so much to dispose of tyres, batteries, oil and brake fluid that, where we would have been able to offer people maybe £30 for their car, we now have to charge them up to £40 to take it.

"This is why you see so many cars dumped around the area. It then becomes the council's problem and the tax payer pays for it."