Bridgend Council warning over fake litter officer scam

People have been asked to pay £150 in cash by bogus officials

Conmen disguised as litter enforcement officers have been demanding cash from passers-by, a council has warned.

Bridgend Council said it has received reports of two men demanding instant cash payments of £150 for supposed littering and dog fouling.

In one case this month, they took a pedestrian's phone number and later demanded extra payments over the phone.

Deputy leader Hywel Williams said: "We are urging people to watch out for the scam."

Bridgend Council said genuine enforcement officers always wear official ID badges

The men were dressed in black, similar to bone fide officers from 3GS, which was recently awarded the contract by the authority to help clamp down on littering.

Mr Williams told a full council meeting: "Genuine enforcement officers always wear official ID badges and lanyards and will never ask for a cash payment for a fixed penalty notice.

"Instead, officers will issue a ticket stating details of the offence, payment options and online, telephone and postal contact details.

• Woman fined £150 for feeding pigeon

• £4.5m paid in litter and dog mess fines

"They will never ask for cash up-front or for a personal mobile number."

The fixed penalty notices issued by the real enforcement officers would be £100, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Williams later added: "Residents should avoid being in this situation altogether by not dropping any litter at all.

"Our intension is to make Bridgend a cleaner place to live and work so it is a huge shame that there are people who are using this as an opportunity to trick others."