Where have all the dumped cars gone?

MYSTERY surrounds a number of cars which are believed to have been dumped by joyriders in the middle of a village – and then have quickly vanished.

Residents have reported seeing several cars, some of them worse for wear, just left, near their homes but they have then been removed.

It was thought that joyriders had been stealing the cars and then just abandoning them in the High Road, near the churches in Trimley St Martin and Trimley St Mary, when they had had enough of them.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: "There was one there first thing Sunday morning with its windscreen all smashed in, and another recently looked as though a couple of its wheels were worn down to the rims.

"We have not seen anyone take them away and they have disappeared pretty quickly for abandoned cars, sometimes in a day or so."

But Felixstowe police say there have been no reports of stolen cars in the area – or anyone dumping stolen cars in the High Road.

They have not been called out to deal with any and have no record of problems in the area.

"Usually, if a car is stolen, the owner will report it as stolen and if our officers find it we inform the owner so they can collect it – otherwise they would not know where it had been left," said a spokeswoman.

"We have had no reports of stolen cars or stolen cars being left in this area.

"It may be that the owners of the cars left them parked there overnight for some reason and then collected them the next day."

Suffolk Coastal council has brought in a new policy which will see abandoned cars removed from the roadside in ten days if people report them.

The council pledges to place a notice on a vehicle within three workings days of receiving a complaint, giving the owner a week to remove it or the council will do so.