This legislation looks to have made servicing and maintenance at the roadside illegal.
However, if the works are necessary because of breakdown, and are carried out within 72 hours all is well.
You can get approval from your local authority to effect a repair outside of the 72 hour limit. I called my council to discuss this. They said 'is that act in yet?', and they were unable to answer my question on what were their guidelines to giving approval to work outside of the 72 hour limit, or the process to seek their approval (judging by the speed which they work at, I probably would have to leave the car on the side of the road 'broken down' for a couple of weeks whilst the approval paperwork came through, by which time the vehicle would be classed as being abandoned, and probably be in a crusher somewhere!
On a more serious note, the act states that roadside repair is an offence if it is carried out as part of 'a business of carrying out restricted works', what restricted works are - well read and weep 'works for the repair, maintenance, servicing, improvement or dismantling of a motor vehicle or of any part of or accessory to a motor vehicle; works for the installation, replacement or renewal of any such part or accessory. Just about everything to do with fixing a car then.
This legislation seems to have rather severe implications to any repair business that may have to 'fix' a car at the roadside.
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if at any time-
(a) he leaves two or more motor vehicles parked within 500 metres of each other on a road or roads where they are exposed or advertised for sale, or (b) he causes two or more motor vehicles to be so left.
(2) A person is not to be convicted of an offence under subsection (1) if he proves to the satisfaction of the court that he was not acting for the purposes of a business of selling motor vehicles.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
(4) In this section-
"motor vehicle" has the same meaning as in the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 (c. 3); "road" has the same meaning as in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (c. 27).
4 Repairing vehicles on a road
(1) A person who carries out restricted works on a motor vehicle on a road is guilty of an offence, subject as follows.
(2) For the purposes of this section "restricted works" means-
(a) works for the repair, maintenance, servicing, improvement or dismantling of a motor vehicle or of any part of or accessory to a motor vehicle; (b) works for the installation, replacement or renewal of any such part or accessory. (3) A person is not to be convicted of an offence under this section in relation to any works if he proves to the satisfaction of the court that the works were not carried out-
(a) in the course of, or for the purposes of, a business of carrying out restricted works; or (b) for gain or reward. (4) Subsection (3) does not apply where the carrying out of the works gave reasonable cause for annoyance to persons in the vicinity.
(5) A person is also not to be convicted of an offence under this section in relation to any works if he proves to the satisfaction of the court that the works carried out were works of repair which-
(a) arose from an accident or breakdown in circumstances where repairs on the spot or elsewhere on the road were necessary; and (b) were carried out within 72 hours of the accident or breakdown or were within that period authorised to be carried out at a later time by the local authority for the area. (6) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
(7) In this section-
"motor vehicle" has the same meaning as in the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978; "road" has the same meaning as in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984; "local authority" has the meaning given in section 9