Bristol's graffiti and fly-tipping fines to more than double

The boss of a dry cleaners had to pay more than £2,000 after piles of rubbish were found dumped in the street

Fines for graffiti, fly-posting and fly-tipping are due to increase significantly across Bristol next week.

Anyone caught dumping waste by the roadside or other unauthorised places will face a £1,000 fixed penalty notice, up from a £400 fine currently.

Graffiti and fly-posting will also see fines increase from £150 to £500.

The changes, which take the rates up to new maximums allowed by a law passed in 2023, were approved by Bristol City Council's cabinet on Tuesday.

The 2023 legislation also increased the upper limit for littering to £500, but councillors are set to keep this at the existing £150.

It also raises the maximum amount local authorities can fine people who breach the "household duty of care" to £600, but again the council plans to keep this at its current fee of £400.

Residents are required to take reasonable steps to ensure rubbish produced at home is supplied only to someone authorised to dispose of it.

Bristol City Council approved the decision to raise the fines on Tuesday

A 50% early payment discount will be applied for anyone found fly-tipping, bringing the charge to £500.

Since 2017, a report found 30,000 fixed penalty notices had been issued for environmental offences such as littering, fly-tipping or dog control.

A total of 3,000 people have been taken to court for non-payment in that time.

In the past year, the council investigated 1,032 cases of reported fly-tipping, issued 265 fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping, seized six vehicles used by fly tippers, and crushed three of them, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The report found although improvements had been made, as measured by the independent Local Environmental Quality scoring, more work needs to be done, particularly in relation to changing people's behaviour.

The report stated in 2022/23 there were 10,181 clearances of fly-tipping by Bristol Waste Company.

"Removing and enforcing fly-tipping cost the council approximately £740,000 in the last year, so increasing the penalty rates for offences sends a clear message," the report read.

The new levels come into force on 17 April.