Fines for urinating in the street and dog fouling

People caught urinating or defecating in the street or failing to pick up dog mess could be fined £100 following hundreds of reported incidents.

A report to York City Council said it had received 562 reports of street urination in March and 280 requests to clean up dog faeces since January.

Introducing a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) would provide the council with a flexible and more immediate enforcement mechanism, the report said.

The council will decide whether to begin consulting on the proposals at a meeting on Wednesday.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, council figures said York's Business Improvement District (BID) had received 4,194 requests to clean up urine and a further 2,058 related to human biohazard fluid in the 12 months to March.

It said March’s total of 562 urination instances was the highest recorded in the year.

Since then only one person had been prosecuted for street urination or defecation.

There were three prosecutions in 2023 to 2024 and 20 in the previous year.

Council figures also show the number of requests to clean up faeces including from dogs was averaging 35 a month to August.

Total requests in 2023 numbered 403, down from a high of 472 in 2021.

A report on the plans stated that introducing Fixed Penalty Notices of £100 fines, discounted to £75 if paid early, would bring fines for dog fouling closer to those for littering, which are £120.

Rules requiring dog owners to keep their pets under control would also be included in the PSPO.

“The introduction of a fixed penalty option will allow for the offences to be treated more proportionately and for a staged approach to enforcement to be taken.

“A summary conviction will still be sought for repeat offenders and/or aggravating circumstances."

The report added that the amount of income raised by the change would be "less than £10,000".

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