Doncaster children handed 505 fines for littering

Mark Benton, Environmental Crime Officer at Doncaster Council, with a bag of rubbish found illegally dumped in Hyde Park, Doncaster

The rise comes after the council brought in a private enforcement company to dish out fines for issues including littering.

The authority has provided the Doncaster Free Press with figures showing the number of fines issued by Kingdom, the firm which is carrying out the work, since January 2016, when it first started working with the council.

In total, it has issued 8,717 fixed penalty notices. The council describes it as a ‘significant increase’.

Doncaster Council head of regulation and enforcement, Tracey Harwood, said: “Our contract with Kingdom has proved very successful in increasing the amount of fixed penalty notices we are able to give out to people committing environmental crimes.

“Kingdom officers have issued over 8,000 fines in the last year, sending out the clear message that Doncaster Council will not tolerate people spoiling our borough. Enforcement action is a key part of our environmental campaign, This is my Doncaster.

“Another positive effect of this approach is that it frees up council Enforcement officers to carry out investigative work on more serious crimes like fly-tipping, which in turn will also help to protect the environment and prevent future crimes.

“We are in the process of working with Rotherham Council to see how we can share our expertise, although no formal agreements have been made.”

Kingdom staff gather evidence of environmental crimes, and send it to Doncaster Council officers. It is then up to council officers to decide whether a Fixed Penalty Notice will be issued.

Since January 2016, there have been 7,141 fines for littering and 505 fines given to children for litter. One fine was to a child under 11. Another 356 fines were dished out for littering from vehicles.

There have also been 149 fines dished out for dog fouling.