Fine time for chucking litter
YOU might want to think twice about dropping litter or fly-tipping in Hillingdon as the council has just increased its fines for the offences.
On-the-spot fines for littering, graffiti, fly-posting and handing out leaflets in the street without permission have been raised from £80 to £100 in the borough, following a decision by the council’s cabinet at their meeting on Thursday, September 27.
The cabinet agreed to adopt the increase with immediate effect as part of an ongoing zero-tolerance approach to littering and other environmental crimes.
The move follows the introduction of new laws that give local authorities in England and Wales the power to increase fines for certain offences. Previously anyone who paid the fine within 10 days would get a £30 discount but now the discount will only be £15.
Anyone who fails to pay their fine within 14 days risks being taken to court and fined up to £2,500.
Councillor Douglas Mills said: “These offences might not seem serious to the people who commit them, but they blight residents’ lives and are hugely detrimental to our neighbourhoods.
“We hope that the threat of a heftier fine or an appearance in court might just make someone stop and think before they act.”
A total of 3,900 fines were paid in Hillingdon in 2017/18.
The majority were £80 fines for offences such as littering and graffiti.
These offences... blight residents’ lives and our hugely detrimental to our neighbourhoods