Fail to act, then you face a fine

Another day and another fly-tipper is hit with a whopping fine.

There will be those in the community who feel the authorities are being heavy-handed their approach to keeping the environment clean.

If so, they are in the minority.

It was an Echo survey that revealed just how much anger the Sunderland public felt about littering in their community.

It prompted our Clean Streets campaign which has been wholly backed by the city council and the vast majority of the public.

In fact, the authorities has kept the pedal to the metal in their bid to rid the streets of rubbish.

With government cuts putting the squeeze on the council’s ability to plough money into more street cleaning projects, they have turned to the public and tougher bylaws to tackle the problem.

The public have responded by giving as much information as they can to help track down those who blight our community with rubbish.

Hefty fines have also been administered to get the message out to wouldbe offenders.

The council is even pursuing the toughest of sanctions against the worst litter offenders, including the potential to crush the vehicles of those found guilty of fly-tipping.

Today we have another offender brought to book.

And there really is not excuse for the mess being caused.

As Councillor Amy Wilson explains: “Leaving your waste and rubbish out like this is unacceptable. We all have a duty to dispose of or present our waste for collection in a timely, appropriate and legal manner.”

Fail to act and you face a hefty fine. It’s the best way to keep our streets clean...