Would you report this, and if you would, who would you report it to?

[Starweaver]

The people who live about 40 meters up the road from me are running some kind of second hand car business from their home. They don’t have any sort of commercial premises and keep all the cars at the side of the road outside where they live. There are currently about 15 cars parked, taking up space on both sides of the road and on the pavement. The registration plates have been removed from all the cars although two of them have red trade plates propped up in the front windscreen Do these couple of red plates cover all the cars, or does each car need it's own set of trade plates if they are parked on the road?

They are frankly a nuisance. This road is very busy with a row of shops and parking is at a premium without an extra 15 cars taking up space. The pavement parking is also a pita for pedestrians. If it was the odd one or two cars it wouldn't be so bad, but it feels like they are taking the piss with so many cars.

My thoughts are:
Can these vehicles be legally kept on the road? Even when we SORN cars they can't be kept on the road - are these cars any different?

Are people allowed to use the public road as storage for their business, which is in effect what they are doing? The cars are there 24/7.

Would it be very mean of me to let the DVLA and the local council know? If I did report it to the council, which department would I need to contact?

Your local council.

just found this in gov website.

https://www.gov.uk/run-business-from-home

DVLA for those that don't have a valid TAX.

MOT and no insurance are down to the police, and generally the cars taking up road space is for your local concil to deal with, if they can be bothered that is.

Even if SORN it shouldn't be on public roads.

Council highways department
Parking enforcement
Planning enforcement

I think I’d just go nuclear to be honest. It’s not your job to get all the facts - you just need to report suspicions and what you’ve observed eg number of vehicles, turnover of these, if they’d doing works on them, etc.

Report to your local council. They will check (might be a few diff departments) the permission for commercial activity in a residence; the environmental pollution; nuisance business; licensing etc.

Also contact citizens advice to get the details documented for trading standards around the business premises.

DVSA are responsible for roadworthiness of parts and vehicles etc.

DVLA are responsible for sorn declared vehicles being off public roads. Businesses have the trade plates (the red and white ones) - these are issued to the business and so the same plate goes onto multiple cars.

do not confront the neighbours - you can make anonymous reports.

Have a look at Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 and report to local authority

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act specifies the following two criminal offences in relation to nuisance parking:
Exposing vehicles for sale on a road
Repairing vehicles on a road

Exposing Vehicles for Sale on a Road

Some garages and businesses place cars for sale, for an extended period of time, on the street and also in lay-bys. This can cause a significant nuisance to local residents and can also take up valuable parking spaces required for local residents.

An individual will be guilty of this offence if he does one of the following actions:

Leaving two or more motor vehicles parked within 500 metres of each other on a road or roads where they are exposed or advertised for sale, or
Causing two or more motor vehicles to be so left
If I run a business can I be prosecuted for this?

The local council can prosecute a business for either of the above criminal violations. If an individual or a business has been convicted of one of these offences then they can be liable for a fine of up to £2,500.

Local councils can also deal with this matter by issuing a £100 fixed penalty notice which can also be reduced to £60 for early payment.

Thank you for your replies.

How do I go about reporting this anonymously?

One or two, maybe accept. Fifteen ? Report, report, report !