A vehicle recovery company says it is facing difficulties disposing of a burnt-out hybrid Land Rover because of restrictions on transporting hazardous waste off the Isle of Man.

Mann Recovery Services was called to recover a Land Rover Defender Hybrid after it caught fire earlier this week while its owners were asleep.

The company said the blaze had taken hold before anyone noticed, although only minor damage was caused to the property.

It said recovery workers made several visits to monitor the temperature of the vehicle's 400V lithium battery before determining it was stable enough to move.

The Land Rover was eventually loaded into a skip for transportation, with the company citing the amount of loose debris and the risk of the battery reigniting.

Explaining the decision on Facebook, Mann Recovery Services said: ‘There’s lots of loose debris so containing it is the easiest way to transport, secondly if the battery was to reignite it’s contained and lowers the risk to our vehicle and finally makes storing the vehicle whilst a decision about the vehicles future is made safer.’

The company said the battery was ‘very badly damaged’ and its remaining charge was unknown, making it potentially dangerous to put the vehicle through a crusher.

It said the Land Rover had been classified as hazardous waste and that no vessel currently serving the island was certified to carry it to the UK.

According to the company, transporting the vehicle would also require a Transfrontier Shipment (TFS) licence, which could take months to obtain and cost around £3,000.

Mann Recovery Services said it had sought advice from government departments but remained uncertain about how to proceed.

It said on Facebook: ‘We've asked advice from the government departments you'd expect to know the answers but nobody seems to know or care.’

The Department of Infrastructure and Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture are currently working with stakeholders to improve arrangements for transporting damaged electric and hybrid vehicles.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has developed a draft policy that could allow damaged electric vehicles assessed as low risk to be transported intact, subject to a successful trial.

The government has previously acknowledged that there is no statutory provision for disposing of or scrapping electric vehicles on the island.

A government spokesperson said: ‘Meanwhile, Mezeron is able to arrange the shipment of damaged EVs and hybrid vehicles off-island where the damage is restricted to bodywork only.’

Mann Recovery Services thanked the Land Rover's owner for allowing photographs of the recovery to be shared.

It added that the owners were ‘relieved to have the mess off their drive’.

Businesses seeking guidance on exporting damaged electric vehicles to the UK can contact DEFA's Environmental Protection Unit on 01624 685535 or email [email protected].