Littering

Littering - (Section 87/88 Environmental Protection Act 1990.)

What is a littering offence?

A person is guilty of an offence if he throws down, drops or otherwise deposits any litter to any place in the area of a principal litter authority which is open to the air.

Litter is classed as general litter, Cigarettes, Spitting, Chewing gum, urinating, defecating and a single bag of household waste.
 

How much will you fine people for each offence?

You will be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for £250.
 

Is there an early payment discount?

Yes - the £250 FPN is reduced to £150 if paid within 10 days.

How are FPN's issued?

If you have been seen to commit an offence, an environmental enforcement officer will approach you and identify themselves. They will caution you and let you know that your conversation is being recorded. You will be asked for identification and the FPN will be printed and issued to you. The enforcement officer will explain the FPN, the Legislation being enforced, the offence committed and how you can pay the FPN.

How do we deal with juvenile offenders?

Offenders aged 18 and over will be dealt with by way of an FPN. Offenders aged 18 and under will be dealt with by way of warning or restorative justice

What action is taken if offenders don't pay?

Offenders that do not pay within the 14 day period will be prosecuted for failing to discharge their responsibility by paying the FPN.  They will appear before magistrates and dealt with by the court process.

Can someone appeal against an FPN?

Some FPN's can be appealed, if this is the case it will tell you on the FPN how and who to appeal to.

How do we spend the money received from FPN's?

A contractor carries out enforcement action on our behalf, they do not charge for this service instead they retain any receipts.  Therefore the money is used for carrying out environmental crime enforcement.  Should the council issue any FPN's this money is spent on education or enforcement around environmental crime.

Why should I pay, if there are no signs about littering in the area where I dropped it?

We are not required to place signs in every street, road, highway or open park/space to tell people not to litter. Litter legislation has been in force for many years and littering is a criminal offence. FPN's are issued to enable people to discharge their responsibility rather than face prosecution.

Why should I pay a Fixed Penalty Notice when there were no litterbins nearby at the time?

It is not possible to place litter bins in every street, road and highway in the borough, every effort is made to place bins where they are most needed and where there are the most people, such as in town centres. It is also a littering offence to deposit litter down a drain in the road. Where bins are not available, it is up to everyone to act responsibly and make arrangements to either take their litter home or carry it until a litter bin is available.

Cigarette stubs aren't really waste as they can't be placed in litter bins because they will catch fire?

Smokers are responsible for ensuring that they completely extinguish their cigarettes before placing them in the bin, discarded cigarette waste is litter and you can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for not disposing of cigarette stubs properly. 

This is all a bit petty isn't it, what's the big deal about a bit of chewing gum and cigarette stubs anyway?

Littering is not only a serious blight on our environment but very costly to the tax payer to constantly clear up.