Fresh powers to fine motorists who litter

Powys County Council has welcomed plans by the Welsh Government to change the law.

The authority spends thousands of pounds picking litter off the side of roads each year and provides a network of more than 1,500 litter bins, clearing almost 800 tonnes of litter each year from more than 3,500 miles 6,000km of highway network – the largest in all Wales.

It is a very labour intensive and expensive process to clear the litter and few people are caught for the crime which is difficult to police and dangerous to clean up.

The council does enforce littering offences where appropriate – but senior figures said the changes would make it easier.

The Welsh Government is planning to change the law to fine vehicle owners to make it easier to catch offenders.

The owner would be punished, regardless of whether they threw the litter, or were in the car at the time.

It is a criminal offence to throw litter out of a vehicle and offenders could be prosecuted and fined up to £2,500 if caught. Most councils issue fixed penalty notices, asking the DVLA for motorists’ details.

But if the owner does not pay up or name who threw the litter, it can create problems. Under current legislation, the council would have to have seen the littering take place and also identify and prove who threw it in court.

Council workers have no powers to follow or stop vehicles and some rural areas are too vast to monitor. The Welsh Government wants to give councils additional powers so they could fine the owner of the vehicle, as part of a civil fine.

Blight

The council would also not have to prove which person threw the litter as the registered keeper of the vehicle would be legally responsible. They could be fined even if they were not in the vehicle at the time.

Councillor Heulwen Hulme, Powys County Council’s portfolio holder for environment, said: “Powys has the largest road network in Wales and thus welcomes the additional powers the Welsh Government’s initiative will bring.

"Powys already enforces littering offences via fixed penalty notices or court prosecutions, where appropriate, but this change should make it easier to enforce roadside littering by making the registered keeper of the vehicle liable for any litter thrown out.

“Roadside littering is particularly difficult to resolve and is not only a blight on our countryside, but puts our highways crews in danger and can cause injuries to livestock and other wildlife.

“Ideally, I’d like to remind all residents and visitors to the county to respect our beautiful environment and to take any litter home to recycle instead.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “No local authority wants to issue fines – they are a last resort. But we need to take action, because it’s so costly to pick up litter.

“We hope that with new legislation and residents providing information we can increase prosecutions, and promote an environment where people love where they live.

“We are developing a new Wales litter prevention plan and continue to support local authorities and the third sector in tackling this problem.