'Bad boys: Beware' Littering enforcement trial begins

Litter enforcement officers will start patrolling Reading Town Centre on 15 September

A new team will be patrolling the streets of Reading handing out fixed penalty notices (FPNs) of up to £500 to people dropping litter and fly-tipping.

Reading Borough Council say the team of five won't cost them anything as private company, Kingdom Local Authority Support, will instead take a proportion of the fines collected.

Higher fines were introduced in Reading in April which saw the maximum for littering and graffiti rise from £80 to £500 while the maximum for fly-tipping rose to £1000 from £400.

Most people who are caught will be able to reduce the littering fine to £100 if they pay within the first 10 days.

The year long trial will begin on Monday September 15 and the Council will be able to review individual cases.

Councillor Karen Rowland, who's in charge of Environmental Services and Community Safety at Reading Borough Council warned: "If you're a bad boy: beware. If you're a good person like the vast majority of our wonderful resident in Reading are, I hope you're going to enjoy the effects of a positive team that is eager to get out and make a difference."

Councillor Karen Rowland says 'bad boys' should beware of the new team

Key account director for Kingdom Local Authority Support William Russell said: "It's something that residents have been asking for and pressuring the council... to increase the service that's delivered to try and tackle some of these environmental issues.

"We see across the country things like littering and fly-tipping have increased in recent years."

"The team do have the power to issue a fixed penalty notice. In Reading the maximum is £500 to pay within 14 days but that is reduced to £100 if paid within the first 10 days. That gives the person the chance to discharge their liability... so they won't end with a criminal conviction".

Cllr Russsell also said that if someone chose not to pay a fixed penalty notice or if the council decided it was a case of the same person "being dealt with three, four, five, six times they can decide to go straight to prosecution where the fines re up to £2,500."

Resident Gwendoline Hurn says that Reading has a problem with litter

"The more enforcement of laws like that, community laws, antiscocial behaviour laws the better" said one local resident Gwendoline Hurn.

She said: "I used to be a teacher and I want to start saying 'you boy, pick that up! What are you doing? This is awful. I used to find they'd do the same at school, they treat the place like a dumping ground."

Carol Langedon who also lives in Reading welcomed the move as well. "If you come into town on Sunday morning on Station Road it's full of litter from the take away shops, " she said.