Crack down on littering in Hull and North Lincolnshire

More than 200 people have ended up in court for not paying their littering fines in Hull.

From November 2020 to March 2021, a total of 205 prosecutions took place and more than 1,300 fixed penalty notices were issued for littering in the city.

Those offenders who chose not to pay the fixed penalty notice were taken to Magistrates Court, resulting in fines and costs of over £400.

They were caught in 37 locations across the city, including Newland Avenue, Hessle Road, Pearson Park, Holderness Road, Southcoates Lane and Cottingham Road.

Anita Harrison, portfolio holder for waste management at Hull City Council, said:

“While the majority of Hull’s residents and visitors do their best to keep the city tidy, more than 70 per cent of streets are affected by smoking litter, particularly at busy spots like high streets or transport hubs.

“Littering of any kind, including throwing cigarette butts onto the floor is an extremely anti-social behaviour and is very damaging to the environment.

“We want our city to look its best for everyone, which is why we should all do our bit to keep it clean. People who do not dispose of their litter will be fined in an effort to deter people from littering in the future.

“People who are fined are advised to pay the initial cost, otherwise the case will be taken to court and could result in much higher costs as a result of the additional prosecution action.”

Meanwhile in North Lincolnshire, more than 600 fixed penalty notices have been handed out for littering and dog fouling since November, an average of 30 every week.

Their team of litter wardens, along with LA Support, have been patrolling the region handing out on-the-spot fines as part of North Lincolnshire Council’s crackdown on environmental crime.

The fine amount is £150 reduced to £100 if paid within 10 days.

They're also currently investigating 30 fly-tipping cases after extracting evidence from dumped rubbish.

Householders who allow their waste to be dumped face a £400 fine for breaching their household waste duty of care.

North Lincolnshire Council spends more than a million pounds a year cleaning up other people’s litter, including emptying more than 1,800 bins a week and cleaning up around 31,500 miles of roadside verges and footpaths - enough to stretch around the Earth one and a quarter times.

They're offering advice and support to the growing number of local litter-picking groups who're determined not to let it spoil communities.

North Lincolnshire Council can give advice on safety issues, provide litter-picking equipment and collect any bags of rubbish.

40 volunteers recently turned out to help a mass clean-up and wildflower plant at Mortal Ash Hill (A18) in Scunthorpe, and more projects are in the pipeline.

The council says as well as making the environment cleaner and greener, litter picking also improves health and wellbeing and creates a feeling of community pride.