LITTER louts were forced to pay over £41,000 in fines and court fees in just one day as part of a tougher enforcement of littering laws.

The most recent action by Bradford Council saw 105 people convicted of littering offences in a single session at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court. They were fined and handed a criminal record.

On that day magistrates imposed £21,868 in fines, £16,675 in costs and £3,120 in victim surcharge fees to people who had refused to pay the initial on-the-spot fines handed out by enforcement officers.

The boss of a group set up to improve Bradford’s image has said the tougher stance was an “unfortunate” necessity when many people felt it was acceptable to litter the streets, but believed it had achieved a positive impact.

Last summer Bradford Council introduced its new “zero tolerance” approach to littering. Private firm 3GS was brought in to patrol the city centre and hand out fines to people who drop litter, cigarette butts or chewing gum, let their dogs foul pavements, or urinate or spit in the street.

People who refuse to pay the fine can then be taken to court. Under the Single Justice procedure, courts are able to prosecute large numbers of defendants at the same time, and Bradford Council has used these procedures to deal with hundreds of offenders in recent months, most recently on March 28.

The council contacts alleged offenders by letter, asking whether they want to plead guilty or not. If they plead not guilty a trial date before the magistrates is arranged. If they plead guilty to the offence they can be dealt with without having to appear at court.

Fines were imposed on people who had refused to pay the initial £80 fine handed out by enforcement officers. The maximum fine the magistrates can impose for littering is £2,500, although people who ended up in court paid an average of £400 each, as well as receiving a criminal record.

Ian Day, Bradford Council’s assistant director for Neighbourhoods and Customer Service, 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 is for people to get a criminal record but if behaviour doesn’t change, this is a likely outcome. If you are caught dropping litter, and you don’t pay the £80, then you may end up with a much more painful bill.

“Any income received by the council from the FPNs is reinvested in street cleaning services so the people who drop litter are helping to pay for it to be picked up. Our ultimate aim is to try our best to keep the streets of the district clean and it is for this reason only that we have adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards people who drop litter.”

After launching in Bradford city centre last summer, the enforcement officers have since teamed up with council wardens in Shipley and Keighley and can operate anywhere in the district where there are reports of a problem.

Trevor Higgins, chief executive of Bradford Breakthrough, said clean streets were a major priority for the group, and local businesses, and the hardline policy was needed to change the culture of littering.

MORE TOP STORIES

The group was set up to make Bradford a better place to live, work, visit, do business and invest in, and one of the main goals is to improve the city’s image.

Mr Higgins said: “I do think this policy has helped improve Bradford’s streets. We are looking to have a Business Improvement District up and running soon, and one of the things that businesses we surveyed identified as a high priority was a clean city centre.

“The unfortunate situation is that people do drop litter, and we need to stop that from happening. If that means we have to impose fines to stop this happening then unfortunately that is the reality. Some people just seem to have fallen into a culture of dropping litter and not picking up after themselves, and we need that to end.

“If we make the city centre a cleaner place than people are more likely to want to shop here, visit bars and cafes and go out to restaurants here. It is so important you make a nice environment for people. The most welcome places are the ones that are well looked after.”