Nearly 350 fines for spitting and 133 for urinating in Bedford streets have been issued

And Paul Pace, chief officer (environment) told the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Thursday, March 20) that the biggest offence is people dropping cigarettes.

Referring to fixed penalty notices (FPN) issued between 2022 and 2024, Mr Pace said: “There were 4,277 fixed penalty notices issued for cigarette butts.

“It still shocks me to find people still throwing away cigarette butts after all the social media, the press coverage, the work that we’ve been doing in the town centre and in the outskirts – people still discard cigarettes.

“They get washed into the channels, they often get washed into the river, ducks and wildlife eat them, and they take a huge amount of time to actually disintegrate and actually rot away.

“They really are quite a nuisance,” he said.

Mr Pace also clarified that FPNs for littering is “not an income generating business for the council”.

“We issued 348 spitting fixed penalty notices as well, again, a particularly disgusting habit.

“Most of these fixed notices are issued in the town centre, a high footfall area.

“It’s not particularly pleasant when people walk in other people’s spit.

“Again, quite a lot of urinating as well happens,” he added.

The report said there were 113 FPNs issued for urinating during 2022 to 2024.

Legislation provides the council with the powers to take formal enforcement action including the issue of FPNs and prosecution of those who commit environmental crime.

The current FPN amount for littering is £150 if paid within 28 days with an early payment discount amount of £100 if paid within 14 days.

A report to the committee said a littering offence is committed if “someone throws down, drops or otherwise deposits anything” in any place (including over water) that is open to the air and to which the public have access.

It added that littering is most commonly assumed to include materials associated with smoking and food on the go, confectionery or beverages that are improperly discarded and left by members of the public.

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