Litter louts who have been caught irresponsibly disposing of rubbish in Sefton have been convicted in court this week, leading to fines totaling more than £1,000

Three people, all from the Southport area of Sefton failed to appear at South Sefton Magistrates court this week (Tuesday, January 16) after they were spotted by enforcement officers littering in the borough.

Phillip Coates, 57, of Scarisbrick New Road, Southport was found guilty in absence and fined £350.

Stephen Knight, 33, of Central Avenue, Birkdale was found guilty in absence and fined £350.

Malcolm Webb, 34, of Part Street, Southport was found guilty in absence and fined £350.

A spokesman for Sefton Council said:

“It’s simple. If you drop litter and our enforcement officers catch you, you will be fined £75.

“If you fail to pay and your case goes to court, then the fine can be considerably higher.

“It’s a criminal offence to litter and we will not hesitate to fine those who deliberately make our beautiful borough untidy.

“People need to think twice before just throwing their waste away and court cases like these highlight what can happen if you are caught. Either take it home or use a bin.”

For more information about litter, visit http://www.sefton.gov.uk/bins-recycl...nd-fly-tipping.

Originally Posted by roving-eye

A spokesman for Sefton Council said:

“It’s simple. If you drop litter and our enforcement officers catch you, you will be fined £75.
“If you fail to pay and your case goes to court, then the fine can be considerably higher.
“It’s a criminal offence to litter and we will not hesitate to fine those who deliberately make our beautiful borough untidy."

He forgot to add "An exception will be made if you arrive in a large group, park a load of caravans for a coupe of weeks and leave a load of litter behind."

Do the enforcement officers patrol all areas of the borough in equal measure?

Originally Posted by r4dent

He forgot to add "An exception will be made if you arrive in a large group, park a load of caravans for a coupe of weeks and leave a load of litter behind."

Its also helpful if you are a bully and part of a so called ethnic group that way the council will claim they can't enforce the law equally.

Originally Posted by salus.populi

Do the enforcement officers patrol all areas of the borough in equal measure?

The enforcement officers are contracted by the council. The council makes no money from the fines. The company can choose were they want to operate in the borough. They probably choose Southport as it has the highest footfall in Sefton.

Here's something for Sefton to ignore;

(ii) Avoiding unfair discrimination or prejudice, and ensuring no conflict of interest
Service providers should;

ensure that actions and decisions are free from any personal bias or interests that could prejudice those actions and decisions
declare any conflict of interest
not act in a way that unlawfully discriminates against or unjustifiably favours particular individuals or interests

I'm sure that the last lot that appeared in court were from all parts of the borough. I'm surprised there were only 3 incidents.

£350 for litter, here are some recent court reports to put it in prospective

Max **** 26, of Lancaster, was banned from driving for 38 months after admitting drug driving, and must pay a £100 fine and £50 costs.

Ricky ****, 22, of Lancaster, was discharged for 12 months after admitting stealing food and drink and must pay £28.50 compensation.

Personally I'd rather they got 500 hours community service litter picking and picking up dog muck. Any purposely missed dog muck increases the community hours.

Originally Posted by mike1979

Personally I'd rather they got 500 hours community service litter picking and picking up dog muck. Any purposely missed dog muck increases the community hours.

^^^^ Agree.

Originally Posted by mike1979

The enforcement officers are contracted by the council. The council makes no money from the fines. The company can choose were they want to operate in the borough. They probably choose Southport as it has the highest footfall in Sefton.

I'll make sure I take my litter to a quiet part of Bootle then.

Originally Posted by salus.populi

I'll make sure I take my litter to a quiet part of Bootle then.

Formby is closer

The same old crap about the travellers trotted out by the same buffoons who can't grasp simple concepts on safety and logistics.
Just to clear up something for them - these Enforcement Officers operate under a different brief and use different legislation than that which would be applied to Fly Tipping travellers.

There is however something they can do, and that is to berate their elected members of the Council, their MP, the PCC, to do something about it.
Maybe then, just maybe, resources will be made available to do something.

Of course that won't happen because the usual buffoons find it far more entertaining to insist, from the safety of their keyboard, that ordinary working men and women put themselves in harms way just to sate their righteous indignation.

These are Private Contractors and they do patrol throughout the Borough, the choice of specific areas is driven by the elected members and yes - they will concentrate on the areas of highest footfall, such as the town centres of Southport, Bootle, Crosby, Waterloo, Maghull, Formby etc.
Having said that they are a private company and, as they clearly do not operate on purely philanthropic lines, it shouldn't take the brains of an Archbishop to conclude they will concentrate their efforts on areas of highest footfall.

They should hang about near Farnborough road school when the 'Brat Run' is on.
tons of plastic bottles and stuff going down and wrappings from a local junk food place that's named after a hole in the ground.