A state-of-the-art software system designed to help local authorities tackle the growing problem of abandoned vehicles is being piloted by Liverpool City Council.

The innovative new system called ELVIS-LA (Easy Link Vehicle Information System for Local Authorities) has been developed by Keynsham-based WPC Software in collaboration with the city council.

ELVIS-LA is designed to streamline the administrative process of dealing with abandoned cars in Merseyside where some 1,000 vehicles are discarded each month, costing the council more than £400,000 every year.

Its primary purpose is to record details of all abandoned and end-of-life vehicles that have been brought to the attention of local authorities. The system also notifies the council's vehicle removal agent automatically and records information about a vehicle's subsequent removal and the nature of its disposal.

David McElhinney, Chief Executive of Liverpool Direct, which is responsible for managing and delivering Liverpool City Council's information, communications and technology-based services, said: "This is a very useful piece of software which we hope will have a considerable IMPACT on the time taken to deal with abandoned cars and reduce the cost of recovering them. ELVIS-LA is a great example of Liverpool Direct Limited working with the private sector to improve council services and make a real difference to the quality of life for people in the city."