New enforcement officers patrol Adur and Worthing - with zero tolerance approach to rubbish and dog mess offences
New enforcement officers have started to carry out patrols in Adur and Worthing, as they will have a zero tolerance if they see people dumping rubbish or not cleaning up after their dogs.
Adur and Worthing Councils are working with National Enforcement Solutions (NES) – a specialised enforcement agency – which has officers operating along the coastline, across green spaces and in shopping areas.
"Our new enforcement officers have been patrolling across Worthing in recent days to help keep our seaside town clean by tackling issues such as dog mess and litter,” a Worthing Borough Council social media post read.
"While our teams have the job of cleaning the streets, we don’t have a specialist team to focus on preventing these issues in the first place.
“We have therefore teamed up with NES on a 12-month contract, to see if its services will reduce waste issues by issuing fines to those who cause the problem. Anyone seen not cleaning up after their dogs and purposefully dropping litter will be fined £75.
“The new partnership forms part of our ongoing efforts to make Worthing, and in particular our town centre, as clean and welcoming as possible.”
Vicki Wells, Worthing cabinet member for environmental services, and Andy Harvey, Adur cabinet member for the environment and leisure, met the new enforcement officers this week.
The officers have been receiving training to ‘help them when they’re talking to members of the public’, the council said.
The council hope the new partnership with NES will keep towns and villages ‘clean and welcoming by tackling issues such as dog mess and litter’.
Adur District Council added: “We want Sompting, Lancing, Shoreham, Southwick and Fishersgate to be as clean as possible, but while our staff have the job of cleaning the streets, we don’t have a specialist team to focus on preventing these issues happening in the first place.
"Whilst most people take great pride in their local environment, we hope this initiative will deter the small percentage of people who deliberately cause a mess, so that our parks, villages and town centres are nicer places to visit and work in.”
The councils said they look forward to working with NES, businesses representatives and other local stakeholders, as part of this scheme, to ‘maximise the benefits for our communities’.