Littering on British roads may invite $130 penalty
September 4th, 2011 - 7:31 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Sep 4 (IANS) Drivers in Britain, given to throwing litter from their cars, may face a penalty of 80 pounds ($130), as CCTV and new legal powers have been introduced as measures for a clampdown.
Many individuals escape prosecution due to a loophole which means police or council wardens have to identify the person who dropped the rubbish, and not just the owner of the car, Daily Mail reported.
An amendment to the Localism Bill, to change the powers of local government in England, to be debated in the Lords this month, will mean littering cases can be prosecuted in the same way as speeding offences.
As part of the clampdown, officers will take pictures of offenders and also use CCTV.
Also, the burden of proof will shift, so the registered owner of a car has to provide evidence that they were not driving at the time to escape a fixed-penalty fine.
Campaigner Peter Silverman, who set up a website after feeling irritated by the rubbish along the M40, the motorway, in the Thames Valley, has welcomed the initiative saying: “It is very difficult for local authorities to fine the perpetrators of littering from vehicles as they are obliged to identify the individual responsible. It will be so much easier if they just have to record the registration number.”
Roadside litter costs around 850 million pounds a year to clean up.
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Tags: british roads, burden of proof, campaigner, clampdown, daily mail, initiative, local authorities, local government, loophole, m40, motorway, perpetrators, peter silverman, prosecution, registration number, roadside litter, rubbish, speeding offences, thames valley, wardens