The price of littering
Residents who believe they can turn the city into a ‘dump for their rubbish’ should think twice after magistrates issued an arrest warrant for a Barton man accused of flytipping offences.
The man failed to appear at Gloucester Magistrates Court to answer charges relating to the dumping of mixed waste in the city. Now he faces being taken into custody and held until his case is heard.
It was one of three cases being pursued by Gloucester City Council as part of its zero tolerance anti litter campaign.
At the same court three other people from the Barton and White City areas were fined a total of £198 and £70 costs for littering offences – and now have criminal convictions.
Councillor Steve Morgan, cabinet member for the environment, who has been leading the campaign, commented: “ These are amongst the first prosecutions we have taken as the enforcement side of our campaign kicks into gear.
“ We have been raising awareness about our anti litter campaign for some time and have been warning people about the risk of fines. In two of these cases people were issued with ‘instant’ fines and simply refused to pay. They have ended up in court and have had to add court costs to their fine.
“ One man failed to turn up to meetings with our officers on three occasions and then failed to appear in court. He now faces arrest.
“ It costs £1m a year to keep the city clean. That’s an incredible amount of money and in many cases it could be used for other things if we didn’t have to deal with litter and flytipping.
“ These cases send out a very clear message to people who act in this anti social way that they now need to think carefully about the cost to their pocket of committing these environmental crimes.”