Reporting Litter Lout

[jimbo1964]

I just saw someone throw rubbish from their car into the street which makes me fume with rage. I challenged them on it and they drove off. I would have thrown it all back into his car window had I not had my young son with me. I have the guy's number plate and he was a registered mini cab so there's a good chance it's his car. Does anyone know who I can report him to?

[davidh]

have you considered the police?

[c_m_h]

http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/Campaigns/Report_It/default.aspx

[ruffers]

What law did he break? Not sure if littering is actually illegal.

If your thought is he broke some rules or codes of conduct which apply to license minicabs then I guess whoever licenses minicabs would be the ones to go to.

Can't help wondering what the point is though.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Ruffers? Where do you live? I have bags of rubbish with which I can illustrate the point with

[expat]

it can lead to a fine and a fixed penalty notice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7343937.stm

[Narnia]

Does this mean you think there is no point in pursuing it or you don't care about littering? Your answer is important in terms of where this thread might go.

[ruffers]

Littering really p!sses me off, I've picked people up on their littering many times. But this reporting seems pointless.

Assuming we find someone to reprimand the guy, perhaps from the license office, I'd be amazed if anything happens beyond the following.

"We've had a report you dropped litter out of your car"

"No, I didn't."

"Oh well, procedure followed, off you trot."

[Narnia]

Don't you think if enough people feel the same way as you do Ruffers that things might change? I think what's socially unacceptable can change over a period of time. If enough people pick up other people's litter without being agressive about it then maybe something can happen. From now on I will do it. Anyone else? I'd like our city to be like Oslo or Stockholm or whereever you have been that's clean.

[cate]

I would report it. And maybe he is registered with a company that can be told. Maybe there is somewhere they can make a note of his details and then if it happens again he will get fined. In southern California there is a hotline to call if you see anyone throwing cigarettes out of car windows. If it happens twice then they get in trouble. Cigarettes equal fires.

[bluey]

Hi Jimbo,

For your information, if you wish to report littering offences on Southwark's streets in the future, it would go to Southwark Council's Enforcement Team (020 7525 2000 - 24hr). However, bare in mind that for successful action to be taken, you may be required to make a formal witness statement as evidence, and may be required to testify should the matter go to trial....yes, littering is a criminal offence (Section 87, the Environmental Protection Act 1990).

[PeckhamRose]

bluey thank you. I was just gonna write all that! Southwark take it VERY seriously. Why do you think there was that thread a year or so ago when someone dripping his cigarette stub got fined ?70 and whinged on here about it. Yes, phone or write or email Southwark envionrment department.

[ianr]

But hey, if you're talking about this thread http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,99394,page=1#, that was a case of the authorised enforcers being there and personally witnessing the offence.

No-one's going to be penalised for speeding, just on the say-so of an eye witness. The same surely goes for littering.

[Edit: actually, make that paragraph interrogative. I don't know what Southwark do.]

In this case, apart from saying what you think to the person who dropped the litter, I don't think you can do much more than writing to the licensing authority saying: "I don't suppose you have any authority in the matter, but can you please pass on to the driver of ... [complete, ad lib]". If you really want to push it, you can request the registered owner's name and address from DVLA, and write to him/her personally.

[Further edit] Now got to p7 of that thread, in which PR posts "Southwark Council reckon if you see someone driving their car and you get a good description of them and their car and the registration number, that if you see them throwing litter out of their car when on Southwark roads you can report them and they WILL write to the owners (who have probably just reported the car as stolen, of course!) and fine them."

So, if you want to experiment, there's one more alternative. Even a letter from Southwark would probably be more useful than nowt.

[Final (5th) edit] EPA1990, s88, as mentioned by Bluey, has it that if just "an authorised officer of a litter authority has reason to believe a person has committed an offence under section 87", they can issue an FPN to that person.]

A private prosecution is the only other thing that comes to mind. :) Does the statute prohibit it?

[jimbo1964]

Thanks for the comments. I'll drop the council a line with his number plate. I'd be quite happy if he got a shirty letter from someone. The most stupid thing was his car was parked right next to a bin but he chose to throw his rubbish on the floor instead.

My wife once saw a woman throw her Travelcard on the pavement. She said, sarcastically, 'I think you just dropped that by mistake'. To which the woman said 'It's ok, I don't need it anymore'.

[sophiesofa]

Well done for getting the license plate.

Yesterday near Finsbury park I nearly got hit on the head by an empty strawberry milkshake yazoo bottle thrown out the doors of a bendy bus just as I was walking past. Grr litterbugs.