Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) offences

How to avoid being issued an FPN

Every effort is being made to place litter bins across the borough where they are needed. 

Place all litter that you generate in one of the many litter bins provided by the Council across the borough.

It is not possible for the Council to place litter bins on every street, road and highway across the borough, as this would not be practical or affordable.

Where bins are not available, then it is up to residents to act responsibly and carry your litter to a bin or take your litter home.

Offences covered by FPNs

We issue fixed penalty notices to:

• educate the offender
• change the offender's behaviour
• deter others from committing the same offence

Fixed Penalty Notices can be issued for the following offences.

Breach of a Community Protection Notice

The charge is:

• £100
• discounted to £70 if paid within 14 days

It is issued for breaching the requirements of a Community Protection Notice issued to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Commercial waste duty of care

The charge for the first offence is:

• £300
• discounted to £210 if paid within 14 days

The charge for the second offence is:

• £400
• discounted to £280 if paid within 14 days

Businesses have a duty of care to ensure their waste is removed by a licensed waste carrier.

If we suspect a business is not dealing with its waste responsibly, we can issue a notice requiring the production of waste transfer documents. Failure to produce the documents results in the issue of a fine. Businesses can find out more about their commercial waste responsibilities

Distributing free literature without consent

The charge is:

• £50
• discounted to £35 if paid within 14 days

It is issued if you distribute free leaflet, flyers and/or literature without the written consent of the local authority.

Dog fouling

The charge is:

• £100
• discounted to £70 if paid within 14 days

It is issued if your dog fouls in a public place and you fail to pick it up.

Disposing of dog fouling to avoid an FPN

Bagged dog fouling can be placed in any litter bin and designated dog fouling bins across the borough.

Domestic waste presentation notices

The charge is:

• £60
• discounted to £42 if paid within 14 days

It is issued for putting household rubbish out too early for outside of collection hours.

Flyposting

The charge is:

• £250
• discounted to £175 if paid within 14 days

It is issued for advertising material on buildings and street furniture without the consent of the owner.

Fly-tipping

Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste. It can be items like a bin bag of rubbish, to larger bulky waste items being dumped such as mattresses or white goods.

Fly-tipping FPNs apply to commercial and residential offences.

The Council will issue FPN fines on a sliding scale for fly tipping offences.  

A first offence fly-tipping FPN amount is:

• £200
• is discounted to £140 if paid within 14 days

A second offence fly-tipping FPN amount is: 

• £400
• is discounted to £280 if paid within 14 days

A third or more offence FPN amount for fly-tipping is an automatic court based prosecution referral. There is no 14 day discount available for third or more offences.

Graffiti

The charge is:

• £250
• discounted to £175 if paid within 14 days

It is issued for vandalising public property by way of graffiti on buildings and street furniture.

Highways obstruction (wilful obstruction of the highway)

The charge is:

• £100
• discounted to £70 if paid within 14 days

It is issued when a person, without lawful authority or excuse, wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway. This includes pavement areas designated for pedestrian use only.

Littering

The charge is:

• £100
• discounted to £70 if paid within 14 days

Dropping litter anywhere is an offence. Litter is everything from food packaging to cigarette butts and chewing gum. It can also include feeding birds.

Safely discarding cigarette butts

Improperly discarded cigarette butts are littering. You can be issued with an FPN for not disposing of your cigarette butts correctly.

Care should be taken to avoid any risk of fire. Cigarette butts should be completely extinguished before the butt is placed in the bin.

On certain litter bins across the borough, a ‘butt plate’ is provided where the cigarette can be fully extinguished before placing in the bin.

You can carry a portable ‘butt bin’ to put cigarette butts in. This is useful if there is no bin nearby.

Public Spaces Protection Orders

The charge is:

• £100
• discounted to £70 if paid within 14 days

It is issued for breaching the requirements of a Public Spaces Protection Order.

Spitting

The charge is:

• £100
• discounted to £70 if paid within 14 days

It is issued for spitting on public surfaces, roads, pavements or streets.