The auctioning of an abandoned vehicle is a ‘well-established statutory process’.

Following an incident where a woman returned to the island to find her car had been auctioned, the Department of Infrastructure has responded.

Samantha Tozer had left her car in the Isle of Man Airport car park for six months and upon her return found it had been removed.

She described the situation as a ‘big mess’, saying that when she arrived to her property in Peel there were letters detailing fines but no mention of the next step being that the Department of Infrastructure would sell the car.

Read our first story about that here.

A spokesperson said: ‘A well-established statutory process is followed in relation to any vehicles that must be removed due to being illegally parked or abandoned.

‘If Fixed Penalty Notices fail to resolve the issue, the removal procedure begins and a notice is affixed to the vehicle advising of the intention to remove.

‘This affords the owner a period of 14 days to remove it themselves.

‘If it must be removed by the Department, a letter is sent to the registered owner advising them of the action taken.

‘At each stage, the owner has the opportunity to engage through the appropriate channels.

‘This may include the need to settle any outstanding costs, such as parking fines or removal and storage expenses incurred by the taxpayer.

‘While some vehicles are auctioned off when the owner cannot be traced, in most cases offenders are able to reclaim their property after settling any outstanding costs.’

The car has now been sold back to her by buyer Steve Babb, who had not been aware of the circumstances before purchasing the vehicle.