A GARAGE owner says he has to scrap around 30 or 40 cars every three months because people are refusing to pay recovery charges.

Paul Cross, who runs Cross Recovery Service in Greenbank Road, Blackburn, regularly recovers stolen and impounded vehicles for the police.

Cars seized for having no tax or no insurance are also picked up by Paul Cross's company.

He said: "People seem to think we are making a fortune out of this but that is just not the case.

"The fee we charge has been laid down in law by the Houses of Parliament at £105 for recovery and £12 for every we day we keep the cars.

"Lancashire Police have a policy of fully checking every car whether it is a £30,000 BMW or a an old banger.

"That means that somebody has to pay for the recovery charges."

Motorist Carole Shrubb criticised the system after she had her B-registered Vauxhall Nova stolen from outside her house and recovered the same night.

Mrs Shrubb, from Hoddlesden, was outraged when she was told it would cost her £105 to get the car back from the garage.

But Mr Cross said: "We probably lose more money than we make and every month there are around 30 or 40 cars we have to get rid of.

"A recovery truck costs around £40,000 and it costs £4,000 to £6,000 every year to train someone to operate it. At the end of the day we are probably losing more money than we make on police recoveries."