|
Court bills of around ₤300 for people
who dropped litter in Liverpool
PEOPLE who refused to pay ₤80 fines for
dropping litter in Liverpool have been found guilty in Court and face being hit
in the pocket with a bill almost 4 times the cost of the fixed penalty
notice.
In March 2017, the Council launched a new partnership with Kingdom which has
seen a 14 strong team of enforcement officers deployed to issue fines to people
dropping rubbish across the City.
The vast majority of people pay up, but now those who refuse are being taken to
Court.
At a hearing at Liverpool Magistrates, on Tuesday, 15 August 2017, 23 people
were found guilty in their absence following evidence presented to the Court by
the City Council. They were fined ₤150 plus ₤125 costs and an additional ₤30 victim
surcharge, bringing their total liability to ₤305 each. 1 other person pleaded
guilty and was fined ₤100 plus ₤70 costs and a ₤30 victim surcharge.
All of the cases for the 14 men and 10 women relate to dropped cigarettes, with
most of the offences taking place in the City Centre, as well as Norris Green
and Old Swan.
Most of those taken to Court were from the Liverpool area; but there were also
people from as far afield as London, Worthing and the Isle of Man.
Councillor Steve Munby, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said:- "Our
residents deserve to live in a clean and green environment and not have it
trashed by people who think it is someone else's responsibility to clear up
their mess. We have now got a 0 tolerance approach to people dropping litter,
and I hope this Court case sends out a strong message that it is far better to
pay the fine, rather than simply ignoring it and hoping we will go away. There
will be more hearings in the coming months and my advice to anyone who receives
a summons is to pay up now; otherwise you risk a much bigger bill if it comes to
Court. Our clear message to people is that dropping litter is anti social
behaviour and blights communities. Our share of the income from fines is
contributing to the wider environmental budget from which we are funding a range
of improvements from larger litter bins to extending street cleansing hours and
cleaning alleyways to tracking down those responsible for fly tipping."
Last month, the Council approved plans to introduce an environmental crime
hotline and a crackdown on late night takeaways that don't clear litter from
outside their premises as part of its ongoing campaign to tackle blight in
Liverpool.
There has also been a doubling in the number of staff tackling flytipping and
cleaning alleyways, with 4 new teams working 7 days a week. Street
cleaning currently costs Liverpool Council Tax payers ₤8.5 million per
year and last year, more than 6,500 tonnes of waste was collected from street
cleansing rounds.
|
