AN ABANDONED foreign-plated car that has sat in Cowley Road for more than a year has caused a stand-off between local authorities refusing to move it.

Neighbours Ruth Conway and Adrian King have been left in the dark after Thames Valley Police and Oxford City Council both claimed they do not have the power to get rid of the vehicle.

It has left the pair feeling “increasingly frustrated” and “shocked” both authorities have failed to remove the “unsightly” purple Vauxhall Corsa, which has taken up space outside their homes since November 2014.

Mrs Conway, 79, said: “I feel stuck because nobody will take responsibility. I feel like this does not do any good for the neighbourhood.

“It’s a bit of an eyesore with its wing mirror hanging off. You feel responsibility must rest with the council but it apparently has no strategy for dealing with any abandoned foreign cars.

“There is a gap in the law that means that if a European car is abandoned, nobody is going to take responsibility for getting rid of it. This is a loophole that needs to be dealt with because we are just opening ourselves up to fly tipping by foreign cars.”

The grandmother-of-seven, who lives with 80-year-old husband Martin, said the pair initially contacted the city council and were told to contact police.

Mrs Conway said Thames Valley Police told them it would only deal with the car if it had been involved in a criminal incident and it should be reported to the city council.

She said the force sent an officer to look at the car earlier this month after it was contacted by the Oxford Mail, but was told again it was the city council’s responsibility to remove it.

But city council spokesman Tom Jennings said it will not remove foreign vehicles dumped on any of the city’s streets. He added: “Oxford City Council has a licence from the DVLA to remove untaxed vehicles from the public highway.

“However, this licence does not cover foreign-plated vehicles, which requires a separate, specific licence. We therefore have no authority to remove the vehicle.”

The car appears to have been bought from German business Auto Tiefel, in Cadolzburg, with a parking permit for October 2014.

IT contractor Mr King, 44, said: “It’s like a kind of running joke. I had no idea it would be this difficult. It’s a constant annoyance.

“There has to be someone else in England who has wasted even more time than me on this. I can’t believe we are the first people.”

The DVLA confirmed local authorities or the police should deal with foreign abandoned vehicles, with the DVLA only dealing with untaxed UK registered vehicles.

Oxfordshire County Council also confirmed it was not responsible for removing abandoned cars, which would usually lie with the appropriate district council.

Thames Valley Police refused to provide a comment.