Numerous residents have recently made reference to various cars being advertised for sale on Ashby Road opposite the Brumby Service Station, particulary in the parking bay along side St. Hughs Church Hall and have questioned the legality of this.        Cars for sale on Ashby Road

 In April 2000 North Lincolnshire Council adopted the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, provisions contained in Schedule 4 deal with the issue of street trading. The Act defines street trading as 'the selling or exposing or offering for sale of any article (including a living thing) in a street.'

 For the purpose of the Act, a street includes any road, footway, beach or other area to which the public have access without payment; and a service area as defined in section 329 of the Highways Act 1980. Further more Section 147A of the Highways Act 1980 states that no person shall, for the purposes of selling anything or offering or exposing anything for sale, use any container or vehicle, kept or placed on the verge of a trunk road or a principal road, a lay-by on any such road or unenclosed land within 15 metres of any part of any such road. Anyone found guilty of this offence may be liable on summary conviction to a fine of up to £1,000.

In addition, the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 introduced the offence of  "nuisance parking"  whereby it became an offence for a trader to leave two or more vehicles parked on a road within 500 metres of each other where they are advertised for sale. A trader guilty of this offence may be liable on summary conviction to a fine of up to £2,500. North Lincolnshire Council have a 'Street Trading and Collections Policy' which is reviewed every three years, it covers all aspects of street trading comprehensively. It defines all streets within North Lincolnshire are designated as Consent Streets. This means that anyone who wishes to trade on a street, highway or other area to which the public have access without payment must hold street trading consent. There are a few limited exemptions though none of these would overrule the above Act.

 The parking area opposite the Brumby Service Station has a lot of passing traffic as well as footfall so the cars for sale would be seen by many thousands of people on a daily basis, a shrewd move by those selling them perhaps. The 'nuisance parking' element could come in when there are events on at the nearby churches or at the Rugby Club as this layby can often be used as an overspill parking area.

 It was noted overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning there were seven cars in the layby for sale whilst overnight Sunday into Monday there were four cars being advertised, the numbers vary from day to day. With each car for sale having a different contact phone number it would suggest that numerous people are using this area to sell their vehicals and it's not being used by one single trader beaking the 500m rule under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.

Many people sell their cars in this way, driving around with a poster on the window then parking up at the roadside leaving the 'For Sale' poster on display, the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 takes this into account after all it would be rediculous having to remove your poster every time you parked up. So it would seem on available evidence there are just a cluster of people who use this area to sell the vehicals independently. Sgt James Main, the Neighbourhood Sgt for Scunthorpe South said the cars are often checked and if they are private owners then no law is being broken, if they are a business then yes. They are also checked for insurance as they are on the public highway.