Private firm to aid council in bid to tackle dog fouling and litter

Cllr Colin Fitzgerald, the council’s lead member for the environment, said: “Like all residents and visitors to the borough, we want Hastings to be tidy and clean. We want it to be a pleasant place to live, work and visit. We are proud of our borough and we know our community is too.

“Local residents have told us about the problem of dog fouling and littering. We responded with a hard-hitting publicity campaign and by making it possible to report these issues, quickly and easily online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Then we introduced two Public Space Protection Orders to deal with dog fouling and anti-social behaviour.

“From July 3, 2017, the council will be working in partnership with a private company to ensure we back up our words with action.

“The company, Kingdom, will help our council wardens with enforcement of dog fouling and litter. They will do so for the next six months on a trial basis. If the trial proves successful the council may look to continue the service going forward.

“Officers from Kingdom will have the authority to issue an £80 on the spot fine (Fixed Penalty Notice or FPN) for those caught deliberately dropping litter and £100 for those caught not clearing up after their dog. There will be no reduction in cost for early payment. They will patrol across the borough based on intelligence from littering and fouling complaints to the council, and information from our wardens. They are working for the council and for residents and visitors. With their help we can keep Hastings clean and tidy.

“Kingdom enforcement officers will wear council branded uniforms, similar to the council’s wardens. They will wear body-worn cameras to ensure complete transparency of any involvement with people interviewed about alleged offences.

“As we highlighted earlier this year an anti-social minority still drop shocking amounts of litter, such as smoking related litter, and cause disgusting problems by not clearing up after their dogs.

“We ask residents and visitors to do their bit to help us keep the town clean by reporting dog fouling, litter, fly tipping and more on My Hastings.

“There is more information on how and why we issue Fixed Penalty Notices and Kingdom’s role in enforcement, on our website www.hastings.gov.uk.”

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