OVER 100 people have been fined for dropping litter from cars in the Bradford District in the past 10 months.

And many of the fines were issued after residents reported the motorised litter louts to Bradford Council.

The Council revealed the figure at a time when it is introducing tougher rules to punish people who drop litter from vehicles - meaning the number of people fined could soon see a big increase.

The authority has also praised the “community-spirited people” who have reported such incidents, and lead to the fines. 

In June the Council’s decision making Executive agreed to adopt new rules which will make it easier to prosecute people who drop litter from vehicles.

When the new legislation is brought in, any litter dropped from a vehicle will be treated as the responsibility of the keeper of that vehicle, identified through the licence plate number.

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If the keeper cannot identify the actual person who dropped the litter, they become liable for the offence and can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecuted if they fail to pay up.

Under the previous rules the Council could only fine the person who actually dropped the litter - meaning it could be difficult to find the culprit if the car owner refused to co-operate with officers.

It meant many cases had to be dropped due to a lack of evidence - even if officers knew what vehicle the litter was dropped from.

The level of Fixed Penalty Notice fines that can be issued under the new policy will also rise from £80 to £100, although anyone issued with fine can get a £20 discount if they pay it quickly.

The Council is currently in the process of implementing the new, tougher rules - the 100 fines were issued using the old legislation.

Members if the public are able to report any instances of littering to the Council, and can provide dash cam footage of anyone littering.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “The new legislation will be more practical and allow enforcement officers to carry out their roles even more effectively.

“If anyone sees anyone committing litter offences, we would ask them to report it to Bradford Council.

“But I can’t stress more strongly that we don’t want to issue Fixed Penalty Notices or take people to court.

“We want people to act responsibly in the first place and dispose of their litter in the proper way, instead of throwing it on the street for someone else to pick up.”

When the new rules were approved Cllr Ferriby described it as “another string to the Council’s bow to tackle littering.”

And Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “If you play by the rules then that’s fine, if you don’t then we’ll use enforcement actions against you.

“We want everyone to be able to live in a healthy, clean area.”

Anyone who wants more information about reporting litter offences can visit Bradford Council’s website at www.bradford.gov.uk or telephone 01274 43100.