Any sum recoverable by virtue of this section shall, in England or Wales, be recoverable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction or, in the case of a sum not exceeding £20, summarily as a civil debt.

Without prejudice to subsection (3) above, where by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (2) above any sum is recoverable in respect of a vehicle by the chief officer of a police force or a local authority in whose custody the vehicle is, the chief officer or local authority shall be entitled to retain custody of it until that sum has been paid.

The court by which a person is convicted of an offence under section 2(1) of the M1Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 in respect of a motor vehicle may, on the application of an authority and in addition to any other order made by the court in relation to that person, order him to pay to the authority any sum which, in the opinion of the court, the authority are entitled to recover from him under this section in respect of the vehicle.

For the purposes of this section a vehicle removed, as mentioned in subsection (1) above, F4by the council of a non-metropolitan district in England shall be treated as in the custody of the council of the county comprising that district while it is in the custody of the district council by whom it was so removed.

Any sum recovered under this section by the chief officer of a police force shall be paid into the police fund.

In this section—

• “appropriate authority”—

  1. a

     in relation to a vehicle removed by a constable or a person acting in aid of a police force, means the chief officer of the police force to which the constable belongs or in whose aid that person was acting, and

  2. b

     F5in relation to a vehicle removed (by a person other than a constable or person acting in aid of a police force) from a place outside Greater London, which is a parking place provided or controlled by a local authority, or from a place (not being a parking place) on a road or land in the open air, means the local authority in whose area that place is,

  . . .

• “person responsible”, in relation to a vehicle, means—

  1. a

     the owner of the vehicle at the time when it was put in the place from which it was removed as mentioned in subsection (1) above, unless he shows that he was not concerned in, and did not know of, its being put there;

  2. b

     any person by whom the vehicle was put in that place;

  3. c

     any person convicted of an offence under section 2(1) of the M2Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 in consequence of the putting of the vehicle in that place; F2. . .

• “local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 100(5) F6, except that it does not include Transport for London, and “vehicle” has the meaning assigned to it by section 99(5) of this Act. F7and

• “London authority” means any council of a London borough F8, the Common Council of the City of London or Transport for London.