A cash-for-cars scheme which aims to cut the number of abandoned vehicles on the streets of Middlesbrough was launched yesterday.

Operation Magpie, an amnesty and reward scheme, encourages people not to abandon cars on the street by offering them £10 when they take their cars to a designated yard.

The cars will then be taken away and crushed.

The number of abandoned cars is a major problem in Middlesbrough with 2,000 dumped last year alone.

Of those vehicles, Cleveland Fire Brigade was called to deal with 80 per cent of them that had been set on fire deliberately.

Station Officer George Crooks, of the Arson Reduction Team, said: "If we can remove end-of-life cars from the roads, the opportunities for them to be involved in fires will be less.

"When the car first turns up, there's interest in it, then minor vandalism is carried out. Someone breaks in and if there is no action, it gets burned out. They then become a magnet for anti-social behaviour. This scheme will help cut that. It is all about making Teesside a safer and cleaner place to live."

The scheme is a partnership between Middlesbrough Council, Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Brigade.

It was launched after a pilot scheme in Redcar and Cleveland proved to be successful.

Since October last year, 475 vehicles have been taken to the designated yard compared with 162 which were recovered in the borough in the previous year. There are plans to extend the scheme to the rest of Teesside.

Mr Crooks said: "These cars are fully disposed of. They are not sold in parts or as a full car, they are taken completely taken out of the system.

"If people are unable to bring their cars to designated sites the local authorities will pick them up and dispose of them correctly."

Bill Morton, from Middlesbrough Council, said: "Most scrap dealers charge motorists between £10 and £20 to take their cars away.

"By offering motorists £10 to bring their cars to a designated yard we hope to cut the numbers of abandoned cars drastically."