Litter

What is the definition of litter?

Street litter is often made of plastics, which take hundreds of years to biodegrade and can be harmful to birds and animals. Litter can be as small as a sweet wrapper, piece of chewing gum or cigarette end. 

Dropped litter spoils the area and can end up in our storm drains, ditches, and streams. Storm water run-off carries large quantities of street litter to streams, rivers and lakes.

Our street management team is responsible for reducing environmental crimes including enforcement of the correct disposal of litter.

Report litter

Our waste contractor have teams of litter pickers cleaning the borough on a daily basis, however, if you find that a street or green space under our responsibility is not cleaned to the standards set out below, please use the following link to report it:

Report litter

The Street Management team can issue a fixed penalty notice if an officer witnesses a person depositing litter.

Find out more about fixed penalty notices.

Report fly-tipping

Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of household and trade waste. Fly-tipping is a criminal offence and can result in unlimited fines and/or five years imprisonment.

Please use the form below to report fly-tipping.

Report fly-tipping

Grades of cleanliness

The graded standards shown below are used to monitor the cleanliness of areas. These are put into two categories; litter and refuse, and detritus (mud, soil, grit etc):

Litter and Refuse
Grade A: No litter or refuse	Grade B: Mostly free of litter and refuse	Grade C: General spread of litter/refuse with a little build-up	Grade D: Heavily affected by litter and/or refuse with significant build-up
Litter and refuse in a soft surface setting
Grade A: No Litter or Refuse	Grade B: Mostly free of litter and refuse apart from some small items	Grade C: General spread of litter/refuse with a little build up	Grade D: Heavily affected by litter and/or refuse with significant build-up
Detritus
Grade A: No detritus	Grade B: Mostly free except for some light scattering	Grade C: General spread of detritus with a little build-up	Grade D: Heavily affected by detritus with significant build-up

Our waste contractor have teams of litter pickers cleaning the borough on a daily basis, however, if you find that a street or green space under our responsibility is not cleaned to the standards set out above, please use the following link to report it:

Please note: We will only come out to clear up a site if it is on public land and falls into a grade C or grade D category as set out in the table above.

The Street Management team can issue a fixed penalty notice if an officer witnesses a person depositing litter.

Find out more about fixed penalty notices.