Litter enforcement wardens have started work in Canterbury city centre from Thursday, May 8, as part of a city council effort against litter.
The council is working with the private security company, Kingdom, on a six month trial project. Kingdom already works with a number of other local authorities on litter enforcement including Maidstone, Enfield and Birmingham, as featured in the April print issue of Professional Security.
Anybody who is spotted dropping litter will receive an on-the-spot fixed penalty notice of £80. This includes items such as cigarette butts and packaging, fast food containers, confectionary wrappers and drink cans.
The council’s Assistant Director of Direct Services, Larissa Reed, said: “We carried out a similar trial using our own officers in 2013 and that showed that litter was a serious enough issue in the city centre to require further action. It was also felt that stepping up this kind of enforcement work is generally well received by the public. Kingdom is very experienced in running schemes like this and we expect them to take a firm but fair approach when they are dealing with the public. There is no target for the issuing of fines but we anticipate a significant number will be given out over the six months.
“The message to our residents and visitors is clear – Canterbury does not tolerate litter and if you are caught dropping it, there is a high chance you will be fined.”
The council says that the scheme will run in Canterbury initially, but is likely to be extended to Herne Bay and Whitstable during the trial.
