Police have told people 'do not take the law into your own hands by attempting to move the vehicle yourself - you may commit a crime'07:00, 03 Jun 2026A homeowner has been left stunned after a car which is untaxed and has even been in a road accident was left abandoned on their driveway. The resident was appealing for advice as to what to do about it - and wondered if he could shift it off the drive onto the road legally.‌They arrived home to find the vehicle which had been ‘rearended’ on the driveway - and some research showed that it has no tax, but it does have a valid MOT. On Reddit they said: “In short, someone has parked on our drive, the vehicle has been rear ended and is untaxed but has an MOT. No idea who’s it is.‌“Section 54 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 makes it a criminal offence to immobilise, move, or restrict the movement of a vehicle on private land. Got that, but the explanatory note for that section it says:‌“Subsection (1) makes it a criminal offence ... to move (for example, by towing away) or to restrict the movement of a vehicle (for example, by using another vehicle to prevent it being driven away). To be guilty of the offence, a person must undertake one of these actions with the intention of preventing, or inhibiting a person entitled to move the vehicle concerned from moving the vehicle. Consequently, a person who moved an obstructively parked vehicle a short distance intending to regain access to his or her property would not be committing the offence in circumstances where he or she did not intend to prevent the driver of the vehicle from subsequently retrieving it.”He said he was thinking of shifting it to the road - but was worried about the potential issues: “Most of what I read about moving vehicles generally relates to being sued for damaging the vehicle while towing.“So if I were to put it on dollies, and roll it off my drive and park it against the curb, at a point where traffic can flow freely in both directions (30 feet away the road is five car widths across and its legal to park there), so I wouldn’t be obstruction the carriageway, without causing damage. Would this action be lawful and legal? If not what have I not considered?”‌One responder said: “Yes, perfectly. You retain the common law right to “self help” in the case of trespass - all the law sought to stop was commercial punitive clamping/towing. You can obtain whatever records the DVLA have with a V888 and write to the RK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/v888-request-by-an-individual-for-information-about-a-vehicle.”The homeowner replied: “I had found that form and was planning to send it off tomorrow however, the internet suggests this will not be a rapid process. Given my assumption is that they are hiding it from the DVLA because it is untaxed my guess is they will move it around probably before the DVLA responds. Hence, looking at a realistic and lawful way to clear my drive. Appreciate your response.”A user replied: “Sounds like a sensible approach to remove your problem. After a few days you can report it to the council who will likely just tow it away.”‌Because of the nature of how it was left, one added a note of warning: “Be aware that it may have been abandoned or stashed after being used for some illegal activities so best to only touch/push it with gloves on...”The car is open - so they did have a look inside to see if there was anything to identify the owner: “Currently the doors are unlocked, thankfully, as a 3d printer I have a fairly substantial supply of nitrile gloves, so gloved up, opened the doors to look for anything identifying, found a MOT certificate with the test centre address but not the owners. But, point taken I and anyone who helps will be gloved up, good thinking, thank you.”If a car is abandoned on your private driveway, the police advise that this is a civil matter (trespass) rather than a criminal one. Call 101 to ask the police to check if the vehicle is stolen or involved in a crime. Otherwise, you must report it to your GOV.UK Local Council.‌Motropolitan police say an abandoned vehicle is one which has not been moved or attended to for a long time. It adds there may be visible damage to suggest a crash or signs the vehicle has been stolen, such as:significant damageit's run-down or unroadworthy, including being rustedmissing or suspicious number platesbroken windows, flat tyreshas a lot of rubbish inside itbroken or loose ignitionbroken steering columnIt said: "Abandoned vehicles can cause a nuisance by obstructing roads, traffic and pedestrians. The sight of a damaged or slowly rusting car can also be an eyesore in your community, so it’s understandable you might want it to be removed.Article continues below"If you know the vehicle owner, our first advice would be to ask them politely to move it. After all, they may not be aware they’re causing a problem."However, do not take the law into your own hands by intervening, such as making physical threats or attempting to move the vehicle yourself. You may make the situation worse and even risk committing an offence yourself."It advises reporting to the local council