AN ENFORCEMENT agency has dished out hundreds of littering fines while the council has issued none in the past year.

In a Freedom of information (FOI) request, the Royal Borough has revealed its community wardens have dished out zero dog fouling fixed penalty notices (FPN) within the last two years and no littering FPNs in the last 12 months.

According to the council’s website, fines can cost an offender £100 but can be reduced to £75 if paid within 14 days. If payment is refused, a court can order the maximum fine of £2,500 and potential conviction.

In 2020, the Royal Borough commissioned environmental enforcement agency District Enforcement to patrol the borough and issue FPNs to anyone they observe or have evidence of littering, dog fouling, or fly-tipping.

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Councillor David Cannon (Con: Datchet, Horton & Wraysbury), lead member for anti-social behaviour, crime, and public protection said the borough’s community wardens do have the powers around littering, but having District Enforcement allows the wardens to focus on their core and broader work of supporting community safety and public protection.

According to the FOI, nearly 4,100 fines were issued by District Enforcement until the end of October 2021. 2,287 of these were slapped on offenders in Windsor town centre and 1,321 were given in Maidenhead town centre.

Nearly 3,000 of these fines related to cigarette butts being dropped on the floor. 302 people were fined for dropping their rolled-up smokes and 60 were from cigarettes.

Soft drink cans and bottles, alcoholic bottles, chewing gum, snack packs, sweet wrappers, discarded food, and more are among the hundreds of fines that were issued.

Since District Enforcement’s introduction in the Royal Borough, they have been heavily criticised by residents and some opposition councillors, believing they are only targeting smokers ‘purely for profit’ instead of focusing on fly-tippers.

Some campaigners have even called for the council to part ways with the enforcement company. District Enforcement have a contract until November this year, and once this expires a new contract will go out to tender.

A spokesperson for District Enforcement previously denied they ‘follow’ or ‘target’ smokers but said most of the litter they observe being dropped, particularly in town centres, is cigarettes.

Cllr Cannon said: “Littering of any form is clearly wrong, illegal and cannot be accepted, including cigarette litter which pollutes our environment and wastes money in clear-up costs.

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“The data shows that proactive enforcement is taken against the range of littering types as the community rightly expects, though it also highlights the sad fact that dropped cigarette butts is among the most common form of littering.

“Enforcement is part of changing attitudes and behaviours among that minority who choose to litter, and any council income from FPNs is used purely to support our environmental services work.”

Meanwhile, 206 businesses were slapped with fines for failing to ensure their waste is removed by a licenced waste carrier.

Only 61 domestic fly-tippers were given an FPN whereas only 58 commercial fly-tippers were caught.

Slough Observer: Only three dog fouling fines were dished out by officersOnly three dog fouling fines were dished out by officers

When it comes to dog fouling, District Enforcement had only fined three people failing to pick up their four-legged friend’s faeces.

According to Cllr Cannon, community wardens have seen a change in behaviour in dog owners since the introduction of the borough-wide public space protection order (PSPO) last year to help tackle dog fouling and ineffective dog control

He said: “The PSPO helps facilitate conversations with the public giving us an opportunity to educate and raise awareness before enforcement. While our wardens can’t be everywhere all the time, they do patrol the areas covered by the PSPO as part of their routine work.

“They rely on the public, particularly in relation to dog fouling, to report problem areas, and this can be done by calling 01628 683800.”