Litter louts will face fines of up to £150

FINES for littering will rise to £150, almost double the current limit, the Government has announced.

From April next year, the maximum fixed penalty councils can hand out to people dropping litter or throwing rubbish from cars will rise from £80 to £150.

The minimum on-thespot fine will increase from £50 to £65, while the default fine will rise from £75 to £100, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

The policy was first announced by the Government at the beginning of last year. Councils will also be able to impose fines on the owners of vehicles from which litter was thrown, even if it was discarded by someone else.

Legislation will be introduced by the end of this year to bring in the proposals, subject to parliamentary approval, next year.

Cleaning up litter costs almost £800 million a year, but the Government said the powers should not be abused simply to raise money.

Therese Coffey, an environment minister, said: “Littering blights communities, spoils our countryside and taxpayers’ money is wasted cleaning it up. Throwing rubbish from a vehicle is just as unacceptable as dropping it in the street and we will tackle this anti-social behaviour by hitting litter louts in the pocket.”