Home > News > April 2006 > 05-Apr-2006

Litter laws lame without training, says charity

Charity Keep Britain Tidy has heralded new anti-litter laws as, "the biggest breakthrough in tidying up our nation in over a decade".

The campaign says that included in the measures highlighted in the new Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, are penalties of up to £80 for dropping trash and on-the-spot fines for those who hand-out fliers without council permission.

But Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive Alan Woods is already less than impressed with the way some councils have used new clean-up powers.

"We have already seen cases of councils punishing people for using a bin and 40% of existing penalties left unpaid - because evidence hasn't been collected properly" said Woods.

Keep Britain Tidy wants a full programme of training and a nationally recognised standard for all those bringing offenders to book. The campaign says courses should recommend:

• Not handing out a fine unless you can pursue the offender through the courts for non-payment
• That children caught littering are treated fairly
• Councils gather some physical evidence of the time, place and date of the offence before they mete-out justice
• Proper campaigning is done to ensure that everyone knows you can and will be fined for dropping trash

"I firmly believe in these new powers, but they will only act as a true deterrent if they are enforced properly," concluded Woods.

"Over the last few years, councils have begun to realise the importance of clean streets and some are straining at the leash to impose these new fines.

"What we must do now is ensure that they are issued in a proper fashion and back this up with some strong campaigns and more bins. That is the only way we will reduce England's crippling five hundred million pound clean-up bill."

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