Littering

Littering is a crime.

Littering is anti-social and creates an unpleasant environment for everyone.

According to Keep Britain Tidy, 2 million pieces of litter are dropped in the UK every day. It costs tax payers over one billion pounds a year for street cleaning.

Litter can be anything that is dropped or thrown and include things like -

  • chewing gum
  • cigarette butts
  • a range of food and drink related packaging

It takes many years to degrade. It causes harm to wildlife, makes areas look uncared for, and in the case of food related litter, attract pests such as pigeons and rats.

How to report littering

You can report people littering to us using our online form.

We investigate and take action against persons responsible for littering. This is if enough evidence is available to -

  • identify and locate the person responsible
  • registration of the vehicle if applicable
  • you are willing to provide a witness statement

If the littering is from a vehicle, we will contact the registered keeper and they will -

  • pay a fixed penalty
  • if they were not the person responsible for the littering offence, confirm the details of the person responsible

You cannot use this form to request -

Report littering (opens in new window)

The Law

It is an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for any person who -

  • throws down litter
  • drops litter
  • deposits and leave litter

On any land such as -

  • public land
  • open spaces
  • highways
  • any private land to which the public have access with or without charge

Enforcement patrols

Enforcement patrols are carried out by our contractor LA Support Limited. They will be wearing uniforms and identity badges. This is to confirm they have been authorised by us. They have body-worn cameras.

Our contractor, in response to littering offences, will approach persons responsible. They will confirm a recording is taking place on their body worn camera. The contractor will identify themselves. They will confirm the reasons for speaking to any person approached. The contractor is authorised to issue fixed penalty notices on behalf of us.

Littering links