Two land £1,700 court bills as council cracks down on dumping rubbish in Northampton

Two men who ignored penalty notices for littering in Northampton face court bills of more than £1,700 each.

Magistrates were told Tyler Howard, aged 41, was spotted dropping a refuse sack on a grass verge near his home in Bouverie Walk on April 28, 2021 — the day AFTER his scheduled weekly waste collection day.

He was ticketed after refusing to pick it up when asked to do so by a Neighbourhood Warden.

Richard Travis, aged 40, of Broadmead Avenue, dumped a large cardboard box in Northampton’s Eastfield Park on April 14.

Neighbourhood Wardens from West Northamptonshire Council issued both with £150 fixed penalty notices for the littering offences, which took place in April last year.

When they failed to pay or make any kind of contact with the council they were summonsed to court.

Both were found guilty in their absence earlier this month, fined £400 and ordered to pay £1,275 in legal costs plus a £40 surcharge to fund victim services.

Councillor Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Climate and Waste Services at West Northamptonshire Council, said: “Litter and fly-tipping are a blight on the environment of West Northamptonshire.

"It is something that residents regularly complain about and we spend thousands of pounds a year collecting the litter and waste dropped and dumped on our streets, roadsides and open spaces.

“Unfortunately it is people themselves who fly tip and litter and it is only right that we take enforcement action against the perpetrators where we can.”

The council sets out its approach to tackling litter in its Litter Charter.