Readers see red over beat-up fire engine on Falmouth street

5:00pm Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Greg Fountain, Reporter/Photographer

Readers see red over former fire engine on Falmouth street Readers see red over former fire engine on Falmouth street

A tired-looking Falmouth fire engine with flat tyres and battered paint work has caused upset on the Packet’s website at thepacket.co.uk.

Readers took to the comments section of an unrelated article about camper vans to complain about the vehicle, which has sat by the side of the road on North Parade for at least the past year.

Comments board user “GrahamHarris” said: “The wheels are actually digging into the tarmac of the road causing damage so maybe our beloved and efficient council will do something some day?”

Another user who goes by the name of “meerkats” said the fire engine could be a health and safety issue.

“What if some youngster climbed aboard to have a look and got injured,” she said.

“Who would take responsibility for it being there then?”

A spokeswoman for Cornwall Council’s community and environmental enforcement team told the Packet that they had been in contact with the owner of the former fire engine “who has stated he has plans for the vehicle.”

She added: “As the vehicle is not classed as abandoned, is not causing an obstruction and is parked on a highway where there are no parking restrictions we are unable to remove it.

“We have spoken to both parties about the vehicle, as have the police and local MP.”

Comments(17)

victoriameldrew says...
5:45pm Wed 16 Jan 13

is it taxed and insured? If not, is it not correct that it can be towed away and scrapped?

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meerkats says...
5:45pm Wed 16 Jan 13

just to let you know i am a female commenter and not a he as in the article.

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
7:29pm Wed 16 Jan 13

If the vehicle has no tax or a SORN on it then it could be removed. Are Cornwall Council signed up to Operation Cubit?

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Lanty Slee says...
9:22pm Wed 16 Jan 13

I'd like to be there to see the tow truck try and heave that bag of spanners down the road.

If it stays there any longer it'll become a permanent fixture.

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iandharvey says...
8:58am Thu 17 Jan 13

If this vehicle is not taxed and insured it should be removed. SORN stands for Statutory Off Road Notification and the vehicle must be kept off road. Although Fire engines are excempt from an MOT is they belong to the fire service, this is no longer true if they are in private hands. I don't see any way that this vehicle can have a current MOT certificate. If I left my car on the road without tax, MOT and insurance you can be certain that I would be prosecuted. Will the appropriate authorities please deal with this vehicle quickly.

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SteveFrancis says...
9:41am Thu 17 Jan 13

Surely this vehicle has tires that have been flat for at least a year so cannot be used to drive the vehicle as they are illegal so therefore the MOT if any and insurance would be invalid. For insurance vehicles must be kept in a road worthy condition which this obviously isn't.

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ucsweb says...
10:29am Thu 17 Jan 13

Police / Council / VOSA.
First: The offence is obstructing the highway not other highway users.
It is a criminal offence to unreasonably obstruct the highway. Is over six months unreasonable?
Second: The vehicle is not roadworthy. The flat tyres are not legal, even when pumped up they would still be damaged.
Third: This is a hazard to public safety. Environmental health sould be on this like a "ton of bricks"! It is also probably a pollution hazard, fuel, foam and oil.
Fourth: If it has not moved for twelve months it cannot have an MOT, therefore is not allowed on the highway unless travelling to a place to have an MOT. No MOT = No insurance = No road tax.
If the wheels have damaged the tarmac, isn't causing damage to the public highway an offence?

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meerkats says...
10:53am Thu 17 Jan 13

strange that the original article was about residents objecting to camper vans outside their properties for a night or two. Yet the engine although parked in a different area has been allowed to stay there for over a year.

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GrahamHarris says...
12:01pm Thu 17 Jan 13

That was why I made the original point meerkats. People were concerned about the odd camper van having a nights holiday but there are far greater eyesores/nuisances as in this fire engine!!

There is no way the vehicle has an MOT as it cant be driven anywhere to get one!

I think there has to be an offence of 'defacing' or damaging' a public road.

I'm not accepting that there is nothing that can be done about this.

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meerkats says...
12:19pm Thu 17 Jan 13

The roads are in a bad enough state in some places due to the weather etc ,and i think the Council can do without the added expense of damage being caused by this vehicle,the owner should be made to pay for any repairs to the road.

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oldsoldier says...
3:34pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Talk of seeing Red, this makes my blood boil. I am not sure why commentators are mentioning MOT, the bottom line is road tax. Yes, it is not the responsibility of this Council (or so there website says), although if you scurf the net for this subject other councils do take responsibility, it is the responsibility of VOSA, after being informed by the public or the police. Not long ago they ran an advertising campaign on what will happen to your vehicle if it has no tax, perhaps it didn't permeate to our public servants. I suppose as a last resort the police could keep sticking fixed penalty fines on it, as my wife received a £60 fine when her tax disk fell out of the window. On complainig she was politely reminded of the law " Not Displaying A Tax Disk" is the offence. Strange how items that slip into the "Too difficult" file are avoided.

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molesworth says...
3:40pm Thu 17 Jan 13

They haven't got anything big enough to tow it away and it's got a flat tyre. It's a problem no one wants. Is the owner related to anyone on a council? We should be told...

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GrahamHarris says...
3:56pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Perhaps even the owner, who ''has plans for the vehicle'' may like to come on here and tell us what they are?

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meerkats says...
4:25pm Thu 17 Jan 13

GrahamHarris wrote:
Perhaps even the owner, who ''has plans for the vehicle'' may like to come on here and tell us what they are?
I agree , they have had long enough now and should come forward and explain what they intend to do with it.

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
5:06pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Other councils do take responsibility and they sign up to Operation Cubit, a scheme between the police and the council where the vehicle would be towed away and crushed.

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Icy Red says...
5:54pm Tue 22 Jan 13

As the Fire Service confirms, the blue lights on top of this wreck of a fire engine misleads others into thinking that it is an operating emergency vehicle. This 'passing-off' is illegal. Having 'plans for the vehicle' is obviously just fobbing off the Council.
What's more, the owner,a local restaurant owner, has also left a beaten-up white van with a trailer with bulk containers on it a few yards further up North Parade and has 2 fields of junk near Falmouth.

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meerkats says...
9:17pm Tue 22 Jan 13

Are the council and authorities afraid of this chap or what?

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