I READ with interest your report 'Car Breakthrough' (Independent, November 7) not least because not one but two cars have recently been smashed up and abandoned near my home. When I informed Enfield Council's Community Enforcement department of the problem (as other vigilant local residents had also done) I was told that, contrary to your report stating that it only takes 'up to seven days' to remove abandoned vehicles on public highways, the process could take two months or more. Enfield's residents should know that the 'seven days' only begin once the vehicle has been reported abandoned, inspected, DVLA in Swansea contacted to trace the last registered owner, and attempts made to contact that owner, all of which can take over eight weeks.

I welcome measures which would lead to a better environment for Enfield's residents, but given the record of this Labour council and government, I suspect that their promises are yet more spin which will never become reality.

Labour have consistently failed to maintain Enfield's environmental quality. Instead they appear to spend taxpayers' money on expensive poster campaigns which cloak Labour's mismanagement, and on spin doctors to feed dubious and misleading statistics to the media and the public.

Next May's borough elections give local residents the chance to elect a Conservative council which will place quality of life issues at the top of its agenda. The choice is a very clear one, and I believe that people in Enfield will tell Labour in no uncertain terms that they've had enough.

JONATHAN FRENCH,

Grovelands Ward (Con)