Bristol littering fines going up 'sends clear message'

A council has agreed to increase fines for littering to "send a clear message" about keeping the city clean.

Bristol City Council approved a rise in fixed penalty notices for dropping rubbish from £100 to £150, with the early payment rising from £65 to £75.

Councillor Kye Dudd told a council meeting: "Although the cleanliness of the city has improved in many parts, more work still needs to be done."

He said it was the first time the fines system had been reviewed in four years.

"Part of this is sending a clear message about expected behaviour, cleaning the city and taking a robust approach to enforcement," added Mr Dudd.

The council also agreed to double fines from £200 to £400 for breaches of the 'household duty of care', which requires residents to take reasonable steps to ensure waste produced at home is supplied only to someone authorised to dispose of it.

Mr Dudd said the council had issued more than 30,000 fines since 2017 for environmental offences such as littering, fly-tipping or dog fouling, with 2,500 people taken to court for non-payment, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A report to the council's cabinet on 6 June, said: "The cost of environmental crime to the city is high.

"In 2021/22 there were 10,196 reports of fly-tipping to Bristol Waste, each fly-tip therefore costing approximately £50 to remove and enforce, so increasing the penalty rates for certain offences sends a clear message."

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said he was pleased about the fines increasing.

"I walked across College Green with my boy the other day and just the number of piles of picnic bottles, crisp packets from people who have just got up, walked away and left, is beyond belief," he added.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]