Call for a ban on car washing in the street

Call for a ban on car washing in the street

Posted on September 21, 2012

Owners of petrol stations across the UK are calling on the government to ban members of the public from washing their vehicles in the street in a bid to bring more people into garage forecourts to use mechanical car washes.

Although most people will see this as some sort of spoof Government regulation Brian Madderson, leader of the Retail Motor Industry Federation, is deadly serious. He pointed out that areas of Germany have already banned car washing in the streets for environmental reasons and wants the UK to follow suit. He said: “My members are already under threat because of falling profits they make on selling fuel and now struggling because their car wash businesses, which were a good earner, are being decimated. Our car washes have to be inspected by the Environment Agency and we have to have a method of catching the oil, grease and dirty water so it doesn’t go into the main drainage system. We accept that this would be a difficult policy to sell to voters, but it should be examined. However, our main concern is the mushrooming of unregulated hand car wash businesses, where environmental standards are not in force which often rely on illegal migrant labor.”

It certainly would be a hard policy for any government to sell when motorists throughout the country are looking for any way possible to reduce the spiralling costs of fuel and motor insurance cover, and while it is true that Border Agency officials have found illegal workers employed at “Pop-Up” street car washes the public like the concept and the job they do. An AA survey found over 60% of members washed their own cars with many car enthusiasts believing mechanical car washes are to be avoided at all costs, and few motorists will have sympathy for petrol station owners at a time of record prices.