THE number of dumped cars removed from the streets of the North East and North Yorkshire doubled in just 12 months, new figures have revealed.

A total of 7,063 vehicles had to be towed away in the 12 months to March 2003, which works out at 136 every week or 19 every day.

That was a staggering 128 per cent rise on 2001-2, when 3,087 cars were removed by local authorities, according the department for the environment figures.

By far the biggest total was in Redcar and Cleveland (1,425), followed by Middlesborough (921), York (617), South Tyneside (603) and Scarborough (507).

Large numbers were also towed away in Darlington (430), Sunderland (422), Harrogate (355), Stockton-on-Tees (306), Hartlepool (230) and Derwentside (221)

Of 21 local authorities, only five removed fewer vehicles than in 2001-2 - Scarborough, Ryedale (53) and Teesdale (28).

The Liberal Democrats blamed the government for the problem, because it failed to copy other countries in making the manufacturer - rather than the final owner - pay for disposal.

Norman Baker, Lib Dem environment spokesman, said: "Far from the Government getting on top of the abandoned car mountain, it is getting ever higher.

"Every car burnt out in a field, sitting in a quarry or cluttering up a housing estate has the words government incompetence written all over it."

Two years ago, local authorities were handed extra powers, amid fears the problem was worsening because it is no longer possible to sell ageing vehicles for scrap.

Under the new rules, owners of cars that fetched £30-40 in the mid-1990s now have to pay to have them taken away.

Council chiefs can now remove a car after just one day, instead of seven days. And they can destroy it after one week, instead of facing a delay of five weeks.

The government spent £2.7 million on new computer links between local councils and the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), to trace the owners of dumped cars faster.