Littering is a crime.
Littering is anti-social and creates an unpleasant environment for everyone.
Keep Britain Tidy say that two million pieces of litter are dropped in the UK every day. This costs taxpayers over £1 billion a year for street cleaning.
Litter is not defined by law and can be anything that is dropped. This includes things like chewing gum, cigarette butts and food and drink packaging.
Litter can take many years to break down. During this time it can -
- cause harm to wildlife
- make areas look uncared for
- in the case of food litter, attract pests
Littering from vehicles
Under the Littering from Vehicles Outside London (Keepers - Civil Penalties) Regulations 2018, a civil penalty can be issued against the owner or registered keeper of any vehicle from which litter is thrown, even if it was discarded by someone else.
Where we find evidence, we will seek to identify and locate those responsible and taken enforcement action.
How to report littering from vehicles
If you see someone littering from a vehicle you can report this to us using the form below and provide the following -
- date and time it happened
- location
- vehicle description for example registration, colour, make
- confirm who littered for example driver, front passenger, rear passenger
- tell us what was littered
- describe what happened
- describe the person responsible
- tell us if you have a recording of the incident for example photos or dash cam footage
Any information we ask you to provide, will only be used to help us to take action against the person responsible.
If you have photos, dashcam, mobile video or CCTV footage regarding what you are reporting to us, keep this safe as you will be asked to provide this once you have completed this form.
Do not use this form to request -
- the installation of extra street litter bins
- the emptying of litter bins
- the removal of litter
- help to organise a litter pick
- the repair or replacement of existing street litter bins
- the installation of stickers, signs or stencils
You will need to access our Street Scene services for these requests.