Littering from vehicles

If you are the owner or registered keeper of a vehicle and have received a penalty notice issued under the Littering from Vehicles outside London (Keepers: Civil Penalties) Regulations 2018, this will explain how to -

• make payment or 
• make representations

Liability as vehicle owner or registered keeper

Littering remains a criminal offence. Persons dropping litter, whether from a vehicle or not and can be liable for prosecution and/or to a fixed penalty notice.

The Littering from Vehicles outside London (Keepers: Civil Penalties) Regulations 2018 introduced an alternative sanction. A prosecution could not be brought where the litterer inside any vehicle could not satisfactorily be identified. In those cases, the person liable to pay a civil fixed penalty is the owner or registered keeper of the vehicle from which litter is thrown at the time of the offence.

Liability can be discharged by the owner or registered keeper where one of the following has taken place -

• a criminal fixed penalty notice is issued to the person committing the littering offence, whether or not that person is the vehicle’s keeper
• the person who littered is prosecuted in a Magistrates’ Court
• civil fixed penalty has been paid by the vehicle’s keeper under the Littering from Vehicles Outside London (Keepers: Civil Penalties) Regulations 2018

If any civil fixed penalty is not paid within 28 days and the recipient has not made any representation against the penalty notice issued, the amount of the penalty increases by 100%. If it is still unpaid, the civil debt will be recovered via the HM Courts & Tribunals Service's Traffic Enforcement Centre.

Appeals

Those who receive a civil penalty have a right to make representations within 28 days, under a number of grounds set out in the Littering from Vehicles Outside London (Keepers: Civil Penalties) Regulations 2018 and these will be confirmed in writing to the owner or registered keeper.

Persons who disagree with any decision made in regard to representations made will have the right of appeal to an independent adjudicator at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal England and Wales.

There are no grounds for appeal regarding any decision to issue a criminal fixed penalty notice for littering and if this is disputed, the opportunity to do so would be in the Magistrates' Court.

Penalties

If you're seen dropping litter in Hull this may result in - 

• £100 fixed penalty (reduced to £80, if paid within seven days) 
• prosecution and a maximum penalty of £2,500 (in the case of a criminal fixed penalty)