Bedford residents encouraged to use their dash cams to fight litter

Litter can be anything from a sweet wrapper or cigarette end to a bag of rubbish.

Dash cam footage can provide the council with ‘the vital evidence they need’ in order to prosecute people throwing litter from their vehicles.

Bedford Borough Council has a zero tolerance policy towards environmental crimes, including littering.

If you are seen littering in Bedford Borough you will be issued with an on the spot fixed penalty notice for £75.

Enquiries made through access to the DVLA database help to identify those people seen littering from a vehicle and being liable the perpetrator will then receive a fixed penalty notice through the post.

If the FPN is unpaid the case will go to court where the accused will face a fine of up to £2,500 and a criminal record.

Between April and December last year, 270 FPNs were issued to people caught littering in Bedford and 53 per cent of this number were issued to people caught littering from their vehicles.

The council now spends over £1.3m a year on street cleansing.

Deputy Mayor Charles Royden, said: “We spend thousands of pounds every year clearing our roads and verges of litter discarded from peoples’ cars, and with many people receiving dash cams as Christmas presents the footage can provide invaluable evidence to help us bring these criminals to justice.

“Littering is a crime and Bedford Borough’s residents are fed up of selfish people tossing rubbish from their cars.”

Send your footage to [email protected]