by Luke Hollands

The decision to make snow-bound motorists pay to get their abandoned cars back has sparked a fierce debate on this site.

We've had lots of comments on this site after drivers who left their cars on the A229 Blue Bell Hill in a blizzard are being stung by a charge of £150 plus an extra £20 for every day it was stored.

But not everyone is against the fees. Dozens of people are backing the decision to make drivers pay a recovery fee after Kent Police had to contract a company to remove the vehicles.

One driver who was stuck in traffic has attacked those who abandoned their cars: "I spent five hours getting up Blue Bell Hill in the snow on Wednesday night.

"The delay was mainly caused by idiots who can't drive and decided to abandon their cars causing obstruction to others trying to get past. I think people should take responsibility for their own actions."

Another writes: "If you leave your vehicle parked on a public highway where you’re not supposed to park, what do you expect to happen?

"Perhaps if people had been a bit more pro active and contacted their respective breakdown companies or made other efforts to get the vehicle moved or even let the police know what was going on, perhaps the vehicles would have been removed more cheaply without incurring extra storage charges."

Another contributor has called for people to take more responsibility: "I am really sick of the attitude that says it is always someone else's responsibility, someone else should take the blame and someone else should pay. It's time we took responsibility for our own actions."

But some of you are outraged by the charges. Rob Taylor writes: "If the council had done their job in the first place and gritted the roads before the arrival of the anticipated snow, then the roads would have been clear. To fine people for KCC's cock up is just rubbing salt in the wounds."

Another reader adds: "Would you expect older members of the public, mums and dads with young children or babies to sit freezing in their cars waiting for recovery, or waiting for another car to crash into them? Or even better, waiting for police to move them?"

The move angered kmfm presenter Rob Wills so much he's launched a Facebook campaign to get all the charges waived. The page had 1,745 fans on Tuesday afternoon.

Many people have posted messages of both anger and support or the move on the group's wall.

In a statement, Kent Police said: "The storage fees for those days when vehicles were held without the Registered Keepers’ knowledge will be waived, although the owners will be liable for the initial recovery cost and any ongoing storage costs after the Registered Keeper has been informed.

"It is always our intention to notify vehicle owners as soon as possible when we arrange recovery, but this was delayed in this instance due to the high volume of work being dealt with by the police over the last couple of days. We apologise to those drivers whom we did not manage to contact sooner."