Fury at schools’ littering
Complex problem
Children are being allowed to build up mountains of rubbish outside our schools – because police have been told not to prosecute them.
That’s according to one angry councillor, who raised the issue during a heated debate at County Buildings in Ayr.
SNP member Ian Douglas raised the issue at South Ayrshire Council’s Regulatory Panel discussed an application for a new hot food takeaway on Dalmellington Road, close to both Belmont and Queen Margaret Academy.
The panel refused to grant permission, claiming the application went against the town’s Local Development Plan.
But Councillor Douglas used the debate to raise the issue of litter outside schools – which he says has been his “biggest problem” since first being elected to the council in 2007.
He said: “The litter problem for school children is not going to alleviate until the Procurator Fiscal decides to take action on children under 16.
“We have a huge problem with litter around schools and that’s because the Procurator Fiscal doesn’t want to prosecute children under 16.”
Councillor Douglas says police officers have advised him that they have been directed not to target children who litter at break and lunch times.
He says the decision has been taken at a local level, with no national guidance on whether or not to go after litterbug school children.
But South Ayrshire police