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28
Jun
The six-month, buck-passing saga of retrieving Ripon’s sunken car
On Christmas Eve last year, all three emergency services responded to reports of a vehicle in the River Ure near Ripon.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said officers feared the worst, adding:
“An extensive search of the vehicle and surrounding area was carried out along with enquiries to identify and locate the owner and any occupants of the vehicle who may have come to harm. Thankfully no-one was inside or thrown from the vehicle and the owner was located safe and well.”
A happy ending? Not quite…
Six months later, the Ford Fiesta remains submerged at Sharow and nobody seems prepared to remove it.
Having a car stuck in a river isn’t a great look aesthetically or environmentally, and on Monday (June 29), Ripon City Council will try to break the deadlock.
Clerk Sally Taylor previously wrote to the Environment Agency saying the issue had “become a matter of increasing concern to residents and visitors alike” and urging it to “take the necessary steps to arrange for its safe and prompt removal”.
However, the agency issued a brief response saying: “We have assessed the situation and deemed it not to be a flood risk so deploying resources wouldn’t be appropriate.”
This has infuriated councillors who plan to take things further.
Who is responsible?
So who is responsible for the Fiesta in the Ure?
The Stray Ferret has contacted the police, council and Environment Agency this week.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson told us:
Generally, the police arrange for the recovery of vehicles when it relates to a policing matter, for example for forensic examination in the case of a fatal or serious injury collisions (note we do not recover for all collisions), cases where criminality is suspected, vehicles being driven by uninsured drivers, and vehicles causing an obstruction or danger to road users.
In this case, it is not known who the driver was or why they haven’t removed it. But given that it’s been stuck in the river for six months, surely somebody will step-up?
North Yorkshire Council was quick to wash its hands of the matter. A spokesperson said:
“We have liaised with the Environment Agency to make sure they are aware of the issue. The relevant landowner will be responsible for the car’s safe removal.”
The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
A Defra spokesperson told us:
“The vehicle is not posing a significant flood or pollution risk. It is the responsibility of the riparian landowner to ensure that their stretch of water is clear of any dumped non-toxic materials, including vehicles.”
'They are so incompetent'
The car, however, is believed to have moved along the river when the level is high, so identifying the riparian landowner might not be straightforward.
Eric Moore, who took the photo published in this article, said the car was not often visible now but the recent dry period might see it bob up again.
Councillor Andrew Williams, who leads the Independent Putting Ripon Before Party Politics group on the city council, insisted it was a matter for the Environment Agency.
I sent a very strongly worded email to the Environment Agency last week. They are so incompetent they even wrote to the clerk and called her Sally Ure!
They seem quite happy for a car to be left polluting the river.
According to the RAC, it typically costs between £1,000 and £5,000 to remove a car from a river.
Whether the city council can crank the rescue operation into gear on Monday remains to be seen. In the meantime, the hatchback appears destined to remain among the sticklebacks in its watery grave.
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