HAMPSHIRE is on the brink of a crisis that will lead to a backlog of abandoned cars, Romsey MP Sandra Gidley has warned.

She has contacted Test Valley Council bosses in a bid to head off the problem, which she says will see 45,000 cars being dumped on the streets of Britain each week.

The warning comes after the British Metals Recycling Association announced that they would not deal with any more scrap vehicles.

They are reacting to the 1999 European Union Landfill Directive which makes it illegal to dump hazardous waste in the same sites as non-hazardous material - causing confusion over the classification of old vehicles.

Lib Dem backbencher Mrs Gidley added: "This will make the fridge mountain look like a molehill. With nowhere for local authorities or industry to store the vehicles they will simply start clogging up our streets.

"Our local councils already have to foot the bill for hundreds of abandoned cars, now they may be left working out what to do with thousands of cars that have nowhere to go."