Avoiders of litter fines pay heavy price at court

Wednesday, 27 June 2018 16:00

People who didn’t pay up after receiving Fixed Penalty Notices for dropping litter in Bradford have been fined by the courts.

Since July last year private Enforcement Officers have been operating in Bradford, handing out £80 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) to people who drop litter – including cigarette ends and chewing gum and spitting – or allow their dogs to foul.

While many people subsequently paid the £80, others ignored the demand and ended up being taken to court by Bradford Council.

In two recent Bradford Magistrates’ Court sessions in May and June, 183 people were fined a total of £37,988 with £28,800 costs and £5,460 Victim Surcharge.

That makes a total of £72,248, or around than £395 each. As well as the fine, each convicted defendant has also ended up with a criminal record against their name.

Coun Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “The message is clear, don’t drop litter if you don’t want to get a Fixed Penalty Notice but if you do get one, don’t ignore it because it won’t go away.

“The last thing we want to do is to give people a criminal record and drag them through the courts, but if behaviour doesn’t change, we don’t have much choice.

“If you are caught dropping litter, and you don’t pay the £80, then you could end up paying five times as much as well as getting a criminal record.

“Like fly-tipping, dropping litter and leaving it to blight our streets is just another form of anti-social behaviour. We just want people to stop and think about what they are going to do with their rubbish and dispose of it properly.”

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