A wedding venue owner has said she’s ‘fed-up’ after both police and her local council refused to remove a burnt-out car dumped on her land three months ago.

Liz Clapham, who runs a wedding venue and nearby cottages in Great Hatfield, near Hornsea, East Yorkshire, found the abandoned Land Rover on her property in June.

But since having the vehicle left on her land, Clapham said both Humberside Police and East Riding of Yorkshire Council have refused to take responsibility for removing it.

Humberside Police initially said the vehicle’s owner had been identified and the details passed on to the council, while the local authority said the car was the subject of an ongoing investigation and referred it back to police.

Clapham wants to get the vehicle off her land as it’s ‘not a good look’ for a wedding venue or cottage guests, but admits she ‘doesn’t see it being resolved’.

The car was dumped on Clapham's land in June, and torched earlier this month. | Liz Clapham/Yorkshire Post

placeholder image — The car was dumped on Clapham's land in June, and torched earlier this month. | Liz Clapham/Yorkshire Post

She said the fire-damaged vehicle is always mentioned by guests in her cottages, adding it’s ‘quite annoying it’s been left this long and right through the wedding season.’

She told The Yorkshire Post: “I got a message from the police saying they’d closed the matter - I’m not sure why given it’s still in dispute.

“I’m getting fed up of it, nothing seems to be happening - I haven’t had any phone calls from anyone.

“If it’s someone else’s, that’s why we havn’t touched it. I didn’t even want it on my farm. You daren’t deal with it yourself - I’ve had comments saying, ‘Why don’t you just move it?’ but it’s not that simple. I don’t know if I’m allowed to touch it.”

Local councils have a duty to remove abandoned vehicles from land in the open air.

The vehicle before it was torched. | Liz Clapham/Yorkshire Post

Humberside Police told The Yorkshire Post they want to hear from anyone who has information linked to the car being torched earlier in September.

A spokesperson said: “Officers received reports of an abandoned vehicle on Hull Road in Great Hatfield on Wednesday, 24 June 2026.

“Enquiries were conducted to establish the reasons for the vehicle’s location, the owner was identified and contacted, this was therefore passed to the local authority and for the vehicle owner to arrange removal.

“On Saturday, 12 September, a second report was received of an arson to the same vehicle.

“We would ask for anyone who may have been in the area, or driving past, and spotted anything suspicious at around the time the fire is believed to have occurred, to please contact us on our non-emergency number 101 quoting crime reference 26*129200.”

Councils and national park authorities (authorities) must remove abandoned vehicles from land in the open air, including private land.

Authorities cannot be held liable for damage resulting from abandoned vehicles.

However, a spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said the vehicle keeper is ‘aware of the location of the vehicle’ and are expected to ‘arrange recovery of it’.

If the keeper does not remove the vehicle, the council may then remove it if deemed abandoned.

A statement from the council said: “The vehicle keeper is aware of the location of the vehicle and both the police and council expect the keeper to arrange recovery of it.

“In the event that the keeper does not remove the vehicle, the council may deem it to be abandoned and remove it. Abandoning a vehicle is a criminal offence and further action would be considered, should the council have to remove it.”