Fine for fly tipping could rise to £1,000

North Northamptonshire Council receives between 4,500 and 5,000 reports of fly tipping each year

A council could raise fines for fly tipping and littering to £1,000, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Under new regulations, North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) can choose to increase fines for offences including fly tipping, littering and graffiti to new maximum levels.

The current charges include £150 for graffiti, flyposting and littering, £300 for household waste duty of care - and £400 for fly tipping.

Charlotte Tompkins, the waste services manager at NNC, said the measures were a "proportional response" to environmental crime.

In 2023/24 NNC issued 28 fixed penalty notices amounting to fines worth more than £13,500

The authority has followed neighbouring West Northamptonshire Council, who decided to make the maximum fly tipping fine £1,000 and increased the littering fine to £500 in February.

Offenders are currently offered the opportunity to pay the fine with a 25% discount if it is completed within 10 days. The period is proposed to be extended to 14 days if the larger penalties are put in place.

Where fixed penalty notices (FPNs) are not paid, offenders will be referred to the courts for prosecution.

The increased penalties must go to NNC’s executive for approval before changes to the FPNs are made.