Britain set to double anti-litter fines

Fines for littering could double to 150 pounds if new set of plans to crackdown on litter louts in Britain are put into operation.
UK communities minister Marcus Jones also urged the public to challenge litter louts in the street as he launched a new consultation process over the proposed hike.
"Dropping litter is the kind of antisocial behaviour that really gets people's backs up, and rightly so. It's thoughtless, selfish and ruins shared spaces for everyone.
"Not only that, litter clearance and disposal costs hundreds of millions of pounds for councils every year - money that could be going on vital services," he told The Daily Telegraph.

At the moment, fines for littering are set locally by councils and range from 50 pounds to 80 pounds, with a default level of 75 pounds if the council does not specifically set its own amount.
However, the new consultation from the UK's Department for Communities and Local Government will recommend higher fixed-penalty notices of up to 150 pounds.

The minimum fine could also double from 50 pounds to 100 pounds.
"If litter louts can't put their rubbish in the bin perhaps we can hit them in the pocket instead? The key is enforcing the social unacceptability of littering, as much as the use of fines - litterers and fly-tippers need to be shamed into changing their ways, and fined until they do," Jones added.

A new strategy to tackle litter will also be published within months as part of a coordinated attempt to clean up the country.
The government's new 5p charge for plastic bags, which came into force last October, has already resulted in a large fall in people taking home new carrier bags from high street retailers.
A national spring clean has already been announced for March to encourage up to one million people to clean up their communities between March 4 and 6, ahead of the Queen Elizabeth II's birthday on April 21 and her official birthday in June.
The "Clean for the Queen" campaign is a nationwide clean-up operation, ahead of the British monarch's 90th birthday which is to be marked with a series of celebrations.