Fine for dropping rubbish in public doubles to £150 as Government launches new draconian policy
LITTER louts will face fines of up to £150 under a new crackdown on thoughtless people who leave rubbish in the streets.
Car owners will also have to pay up if someone is seen throwing rubbish out of their window - even if they were not responsible.
The clampdown comes as taxpayers face an annual bill of £800million to clean up Britain's streets and green spaces.
The Government announced that the maximum on-the-spot fine for dropping litter will rise from £80 to £150.
The default fine will go up to £100, with the minimum penalty increasing to £65.
Another major reform is that if a car passenger is spotted dropping litter out of the window, the vehicle's owner can be automatically fined.
Previously council officials had to prove the identity of the person littering from a car - meaning that many incidents went unpunished.
Environment minister Therese Coffey said: "Littering blights our communities, spoils our countryside and taxpayers’ money is wasted cleaning it up.
TRASH TALK This is how you can appeal a fine for dropping litter in the UK
"Throwing rubbish from a vehicle is just as unacceptable as dropping it in the street and we will tackle this antisocial behaviour by hitting litter louts in the pocket.
"These new fines will make sure the perpetrators, not the local community, bear the cost of keeping our streets and roads clean."
Councils were also warned not to abuse their powers by using large fines as a way of raising revenue.
They will be given new guidelines on how they should apply their powers in future.
