Fine massively increased after initial penalty ignored
A Wandsworth pub landlord who decided not to pay litter fines after they were caught dumping rubbish on the street has seen the fines increase massively after the cases ended up in court.
Paul Bowers, the licencee of the Rose and Crown pub in Wandsworth High Street was given an FPN in June last year after litter inspectors found a pile of black binliners dumped on the pavement. The bags were traced back to the pub where Mr Bowers admitted they were his.
He was given a fixed penalty notices (FPN) for breaking environmental protection laws. This gave him 14 days to pay an £80 fine, reduced to £55 if paid within ten days.
However he paid nothing and as a result the case ended up in front of magistrates who imposed far stiffer penalties. He failed to pay the FPN even after he received a hand-delivered reminder letter. When the case got to court he was instead fined £500 and ordered to pay £241 in costs.
The council’s environment spokesman Cllr Jonathan Cook said: “People who dump litter on the highway, whether it’s a cigarette butt, an empty food wrapper, or a binliner full of household waste that’s put out on the wrong day, run the risk of being given a penalty notice. These cases highlight the folly of choosing not to pay and ignoring the subsequent warning letters.
“It is partly by taking firm action against people who deliberately drop litter or those who are simply careless or thoughtless about what they do with their domestic waste that we are seeing litter complaints in the borough fall to historic lows.”
The Council say people should not leave binbags out for collection too early. They should only be left out on the morning of your regular weekly pick-up. Bags that are left out too early can be ripped open by animals likes cats and foxes.
For advice about what to do with household waste or to report a flytip or litter problem call (020) 8871 8558 or email wasteservices@wandsworth.gov.uk. For more information visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/waste
April 7, 2014
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