MILLIONS of Brits face a postcode lottery when it comes to fines for littering, with some councils dishing out thousands every year – and others ZERO.
Local authorities can issue fines of up to £150 for “environmental offences” like dropping litter, including food waste, cigarette butts and chewing gum.
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Merton council gave out more than 8,000 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) last year – more than any other area.
Around 5,600 residents issued with a notice (70%) paid the £150 penalty, which is reduced to £100 if settled within 10 days.
The figures were obtained by The Sun through freedom of information requests of more then 70 local authorities across the country.
Thousands of fines were issued by a handful of councils – but at least 17 councils have dished out ZERO fines over the past year for littering.
Alongside Merton, strict councils handing out the most fines for littering include Hull City Council which gave out 4,559 last year, Wandsworth on 3,916, followed by Dudley dishing out 3,627.
More than a dozen areas did not give out a single fine for dropping rubbish, the figures collected by The Sun show.
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Chorley in Lancashire says it can issue and FPN of up to £75 for leaving litter, reduced to £50 if paid within 10 days – but did not dish out any penalty notices last year.
And Norwich in East Anglia didn’t either, despite powers to fine litterbugs £80, reduce to £60 if paid in 10 days.
The amount you can be fined for not correctly disposing of your trash, and a discount for paying earlier, also varies from one place to the next.
The biggest discount for settling early were found in Merton, Wandsworth and Northampton, where the maximum penalty of £150 is reduced to £100 if paid within 10 days.
Sedgemoor council reduces its fines by even more, from £100 to £50 if paid within 10 days, but issued zero penalties in 2021.
Meanwhile in at least five locations there’s no discount at all for paying up early.
For instance in Dudley, one of the biggest penalty-givers, the fine is less than other areas at £75, but there is no discount for paying sooner rather than later.
A fixed penalty notice (FPN) is a written notice which details the offence you have committed, how much you need to pay, your details and when you need to pay the fine by.
In most cases you have 14 days to pay a littering penalty and the maximum fine is £150.
The fines are usually handed out in person at the time of the offence, but can be sent after in some cases.
Littering is a criminal offence and you can be prosecuted. Councils usually issue FPNs instead of going straight to court – but it’s up to each area how it applies the rules.
Postcode lottery
This means the amount you can be fined for littering – and if you are fined at all – can depend on the area you are in.
There is also a difference in the severity of consequences if you don’t pay the fine, with some councils taking hundreds of people to court and others none at all.
The council can take you to court for failing to pay an FPN, where the fine can increase to £2,500 and can result in a criminal conviction.
Merton Council also pursued the most prosecutions for failing to pay littering fines – 519 in total in 2021.
Meanwhile in Wandsworth, one of the areas issuing the most fines, there were zero prosecutions.
Around 50 councils did not prosecute a single individual for failing to pay a littering FPN, including the 17 areas which did not issue any fines at all.
Anyone who gets an FPN for littering can challenge it, for instance if you think it’s a mistake.
There’s no formal way to appeal and you’ll have to ask the council to consider why you don’t owe the money
You’ll usually need to provide evidence of why you don’t need to pay it, and the council should provide details of how to do that in the penalty notice.
You can also choose not to pay it, but you risk being taken to court and being told to pay a larger amount than the original fine.
Of course the best way to avoid a fine is not to drop litter in the first place.
Zero tolerance
Merton Council said it takes a “zero-tolerance approach” and that clearing rubbish dumped by others costs is over £1million each year that could be used for other services.
A spokesperson said: “Our enforcement officers proactively patrol the streets and issue Fixed Penalty Notice to anyone caught dropping litter.”
“We pride ourselves on being one of London’s greenest boroughs and will continue to do everything within our power to keep Merton clean.”
Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for public realm at Dudley Council, said it also has a zero-tolerance approach.
“We make no apologies for issuing financial penalties to people who have been caught dropping litter,” she said.
Meanwhile Chorley council said its enforcement had focused on larger scale environmental crimes like fly tipping during the pandemic and that it’s team investigating had doubled in Autumn 2021, “some of which will result in prosecutions of those responsible”.
Councillor Alistair Morwood, executive member of Chorley Council planning and development said: “Whether it’s a small amount of litter or a large amount of waste that has been disposed of irresponsibly, it’s still a crime, and I urge everyone to be responsible so that Chorley continues to be a clean and attractive place.”
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