Litter army given marching orders
The controversial “private litter army” patrolling Bath and North East Somerset which infamously fined a woman for feeding a pigeon - is to be binned.
Conservative council bosses signed a 12-month, no-cost contract last year with 3GS to clean up the streets by handing out fines for littering, dog fouling and flytipping.
But the Liberal Democrats who now control the authority have long voiced doubts about the deal and have now confirmed they have ousted the firm.
Enforcement is being taken back in-house, funded by an additional £140,000 in this year’s budget.
Neighbourhood services joint cabinet member, Councillor David Wood, said: “We were always sceptical about privatised litter enforcement and we thought this was the wrong decision for Bath and North East Somerset so will not be renewing our contract with 3GS.
“However, we have listened to residents who have told us they still want to see fines issued, with a common sense approach, for littering.
“We plan to expand this by bringing this enforcement function and enforcement officers in house.
“Officers will be managed and paid by the council, working on residents’ priorities. This also means action on litter across the whole of Bath and North East Somerset, not just Bath city centre.”
“This will enable us to allocate more of our own resources to dealing with flytipping and waste presentation issues.”
3GS was brought in last March to crack down on environmental crimes by fining offenders who drop litter, flytip or fail to pick up after their dogs.
Under the deal, any funds it received above its costs were passed on to the council or used by the firm for education and promotional purposes.
Freedom of information requests revealed its officers handed out more than 1,800 fines in the first 10 months of the contract - worth more than £200,000.
The vast majority of the fines were issued within the centre of Bath.