Nine taken to court for littering in Adur and Worthing
More enforcement officers have been on the streets in recent months as part of a new crackdown
Over 200 fines have been issued to people dropping litter as part of a new crackdown by Adur and Worthing Councils.
More officers were drafted in back in June as lockdown rules eased to try and encourage people to take their rubbish home with them.
Along with the fines, 76 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) were issues in Adur and 123 FPNs in Worthing, nine of which are going to court.
Councillor Edward Crouch from Worthing Borough Council said: "“People come to visit our town for the scenery and to spend time with their friends and family to visit some of our great shops. What they don't expect is to be wading through litter and dog mess. So absolutely, we've taken a really tough line on this in line with feedback from our residents and yes across the two Council areas, over 200 fines designed to send a clear message that littering and dog fouling is not OK.
"It’s hard to not be angry and to sort of roll your eyes at some of that kind of behaviour. Thankfully Worthing is not an area that suffers terribly with litter, but we clearly have hotspots. It is disappointing, certainly growing up I was always very much aware of the Keep Britain tidy campaign and don't be a litterbug.
"A few years back I was sitting on the sea front and there were some teenage lads drinking on the beach and one of them finished his drink, crunched up the can and chucked it over his head. Well I started to do my eye roll and started getting a bit unhappy inside and then his mate was “like go pick that up” Typically certain people might be accused of littering more than others, so that was kind of a heartening thing. But yeah, it's hard to not be disappointed and angry when you see people littering."
Littering carries a maximum fine of £2,500 as well as a criminal record, and not picking up after your dog can lead to an FPN of £75 and £100.