Litter bugs in Luton warned they face on the spot fines of £150

People who drop litter or fail to clear up dog mess will be targeted by a ’litter busters’ squad issuing fines of £150.

Luton Council has teamed up with Waste Investigations Support & Enforcement (WISE) to increase enforcement of littering tackling those who flout the rules by dropping their rubbish.

From Tuesday, August 1, these new ‘litter busters’ teams will be issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) to anyone caught in the act. They will also target those who don’t pick up after their dog and will also deal with Public Space Protection Order breaches when required.

The highly visible, uniformed team will operate across the whole town, seven days a week, clamping down on littering with a particular focus on key hot spots across all neighbourhoods. Anyone dropping litter will be issued with an on the spot £150 Fixed Penalty Notice and if they fail to pay it they could be prosecuted and face a much higher fine imposed at court as well as potentially receiving a criminal record.

Councillor Tom Shaw, portfolio holder for environmental enforcement at Luton Council, said: “We know from public consultation feedback, as well as conversations with local residents, that cleaning up our public spaces is a real priority. Street litter is a real frustration for them.

“At the heart of this issue is a need to tackle the minority of people who believe it is OK to just drop their rubbish wherever they fancy. It’s not just a matter of education or awareness-raising, nor can we afford to just throw more money into street cleaning – there has to be a realistic deterrent and we believe hitting these irresponsible people in the pocket is the way to go.

“The council spends a significant amount of money every year clearing tonnes of litter and dumped waste collected from street cleaning rounds. “Having an additional dedicated team out and about seven days a week issuing on the spot fines to those who are caught in the act should mean the message is soon out there that we mean business. Dropping litter is anti-social behaviour and impacts on our environment. There is never an excuse to mess up our town and I think most people believe we are right to be targeting offenders in this way. If you are responsible with your litter and rubbish and care about our town, you have nothing to worry about.”

WISE are a specialist supplier of environmental crime services to councils across the UK.

Managing director, John Dunne, said: “Our aim is to reduce environmental crime for the long term and patrol the area in an ‘intelligence led’ manner using geo fencing technology and focusing our controls on identified hotspots received from the complaints and feedback of the general public.

“We will operate a robust but always proportionate methodology to tackle environmental crime, using a wide range of technical support including wireless body worn cameras and a handheld computer which will confirm the identity of an alleged offender before issuing a fixed penalty notice."

If successful the one-year pilot project could be extended for a further three years.