For the next fortnight, clapped-out cars will be shifted from your doorstep without charge by 189 councils (about half of UK councils) – and it’s all in an effort to stop wrecks being dumped on the streets and in the countryside.

Apart from costing taxpayers £24 million a year to move, any old motor left lying around is likely to be vandalised or torched.

Alan Woods, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy said, “We’ve even had cases where they’ve been used for drug dealing and prostitution. We already have 1.5 million cases of criminal damage against cars each year and over one million fires and false alarms – and for every second a vehicle is lingering on our streets, those figures will spiral.”

Since the problem is so grave, Keep Britain Tidy has decided to use a poster featuring a funeral to publicise the new take-away service.

The two-week amnesty was set-up after research showed that some councils were spending over £80,000 a year shifting abandoned motors. Because around half didn’t collect wrecks from homes, much of this expense (particularly in rural areas) came from having to travel to remote parts to pick up dumped cars.

The fact that some councils charged up to £67 to tow away an old banger also meant some owners abandoned them; and while 69% of councils had worked with the Police and the DVLA to collar offenders - others let them get away scot-free.

“The situation at the moment just isn’t acceptable” continued Alan Woods. “Over half a million people complained about dumped cars in 2003 and the amount of vehicle fires has risen by 48% in the last six years. Frankly, we need to get them shifted – and shifted quick.

So if you’ve got a car that’s reached the end of the road, get on the blower now and get the council to remove it, free. Don’t allow your old motor to become a magnet for crime - instead join us as we sound the death knell on the problem of abandoned cars and squalid local environments.”