New steps to tackle littering

New steps are to be taken to deal with littering and those who throw rubbish from their vehicles, the Environment Minister has announced.

Cleaning up the streets and countryside currently costs taxpayers also £800 million a year and so on-the-spot fines for dropping litter will almost double from April next year from the current £80 to £150.

The fine is hoped to deter and punish those who continue to drop rubbish. In future, councils will also be able to impose these fines on the owners of vehicles from which litter is thrown, even if discarded by someone else.

In order for the fines to not be abused as a means of raising money, the government will issue guidance on how fines should be applied.

The changes to fines for littering follow a public consultation as part of the launch of England’s first ever Litter Strategy in April 2017. The new findings showed the majority of respondents were in favour of increasing the fines.

Thérèse Coffey, Environment Minister, said: “Littering blights our communities, spoils our countryside and taxpayers’ money is wasted cleaning it up. Throwing rubbish from a vehicle is just as unacceptable as dropping it in the street and we will tackle this antisocial behaviour by hitting litter louts in the pocket. These new fines will make sure the perpetrators, not the local community, bear the cost of keeping our streets and roads clean.”