Council denies its team of ‘litter police’ are set daily targets for fines

BRISTOL City Council has said it “does not” set targets for litter enforcement teams in the city.

It comes after a former litter warden who worked for the enforcement company Kingdom in another part of the country claimed staff had to meet daily fine targets.

It has been a year since a team of civil enforcement officers – dubbed the ‘litter police’ – began working in Bristol, employed by company Kingdom for Bristol City Council.

Within a week they had issued more than £31,000 worth of fines and since then have gone on to issue more than 10,000 fines, equating to more than £1 million.

Civil enforcement officers have the power to issue fines of up to £100 to anyone they catch dropping litter or defacing property with graffiti. But the so-called ‘litter police’ have proved controversial in the city.

In the first few months of the city centre roll-out of the enforcement officers, people hit out claiming they had tried to fine a non-smoker for dropping cigarette butt, while the police even got called on them by an ‘intimidated’ shopper.

There were also accusations that the litter police were ‘backing people into corners and shouting at them’ by a Christmas market stallholder.

Just last month it was revealed the company Kingdom has come under fire in other areas where it punishes litter louts and seven councils across the country have fired the firm.

And now a former employee has told Grimsby Live when he first started working at Kingdom staff were given targets of four tickets a day by the firm.

The whistle-blower said he worked for Kingdom for two years, starting in December 2015 in Denbighshire, North Wales.

He said those who did not achieve the target would face a dis- ciplinary hearing, and after the third one you would be fired.

The ex-employee also said the enforcement officers were encouraged to “hide in bushes” and “mask their logos” in order to catch people committing an offence.

He also said 90 per cent of the tickets he issued during his time with Kingdom were for people dropping cigarettes, because other littering appeared to be “rare”.

Data compiled by Bristol City Council shows 97 per cent of all fines handed out have been for people caught dropping cigarette butts. But the authority has said it “does not set any targets for Kingdom’s enforcement teams”.

Plans are in place to continue the litter enforcement project for the next four years – but it is unclear whether Kingdom will remain as the company behind it.

The firm was given a one-year contract by Bristol City Council for the pilot scheme, which is now complete. The Post understands this has been extended until March, while the new contract is out for tender, meaning another firm could take over.

A council spokesman said: “No decisions have been made yet on who should run this service in the future.

“A decision is expected later this month and the new service should start at the beginning of March.”

Kingdom will continue to operate on behalf of the council during this time.

Bristol City Council has said enforcement is an important part of its campaign to make the city measurably cleaner by 2020.