Pendle News Room

“We’re having a new crackdown on people who are bringing parts of Pendle down,” announced Councillor Paul White, Leader of Pendle Council. 

“As councillors, the number one complaint we get is about dog dirt and littering. 

“We’ve listened to residents and we’re taking tough action to clamp down on those who litter and on people who don’t clean up after their dogs. 

“The aim is simply to make Pendle a cleaner place, because it’s infuriating for those residents who do look after our area to see others spoiling it”. 

Feedback from over 500 people who took part in the Council’s recent Life in Pendle survey also shows that clean streets and tackling the problems of littering and dog fouling are top priorities for people. 

 Pendle Council made the decision in early December to take on the team of enforcement officers for a 12 month trial at no cost to the Council.

 The decision follows finding out how teams of district enforcers have worked well in other areas, including Rossendale and Blackburn with Darwen. 

 Councillor White added: 
“The new team of uniformed enforcers with cameras will be hitting the streets on Monday 18th February and will be giving people who litter or don’t clear up after their dogs strong warnings! 

“But from Monday 25 February they’ll be getting tough and issuing on the spot fines,” he stated. 

 Littering is an environmental crime and the fine for littering has recently increased to £150, or £80 for early payment and the fine for dog fouling has increased from £75 to £100. 

 Local people can flag up problem hotspots for littering and dog fouling online www.pendle.gov.uk/doitonline 

“We’re urging people to provide as many details as possible to help us catch the culprits,” said David Alexander, Pendle Council’s Senior Officer. 

“This new team means that we will free up time for our Environmental Crime Officers to tackle lengthier problems such as investigating fly tips and work to bring the culprits to court,” David explained. 

“We have one of the best Environmental Crime teams in the country which has been featured in two TV series of Dom on the Spot.

 The show, which is fronted by People’s champion Dom Littlewood, follows law enforcers across the UK as they catch and fine people for fly-tipping and littering. 

“But this is a huge task and our team cannot cover every area of Pendle and also devote the investigation time they need to tackle fly tipping, at the same time,” he explained. 

Facts about litter, dog fouling and fly tipping 

 Since April 2018 Pendle Council’s Enforcement Team has issued well over 100 fines. 

 22 people have been prosecuted for flytipping resulting in £2,000 in fines 
 The fixed penalty for this offence is £400 
 52 people have been prosecuted for littering resulting in £3,375 in fines 
 20 people have been prosecuted for littering from a vehicle with fines totalling £1,500 
 12 people have been prosecuted for dog fouling offences resulting in £600 in fines 

And we’re getting tougher! 

 Fines have recently gone up for people committing environmental crimes in Pendle. 

 Littering fixed fines were £75 and are now £150 
 Littering from a vehicle fines were £75 and are now £150 
 Dog fouling fines were £75 but are now £100