Man ordered to pay £700 in fines and costs for throwing litter in Milton Keynes

A New Bradwell man has been ordered to pay over £700 in fines and costs for persistent littering.

Alan Weight was caught littering on camera five times as he left packaging, drinks cans and bottles in a lay-by in MK.

Weigh, who lives in Meads Close, pleaded guilty at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court to five littering incidents that occurred between 2 February 2021 and 11 March 2021.

The court heard that Great Linford Parish Council had installed a CCTV camera on Delaware Drive in Tongwell to look at a regular littering issue in that area.

The camera captured images of Weight’s car parking up in a lay-by on several occasions and saw him discard packaging into a hedge, throw away drinks cans and leave bottles behind before driving away.

The footage was passed onto Milton Keynes Council’s Environmental Crime Unit for investigation, but Weight failed to co-operate, which meant he was taken to court.

Magistrates fined him £380 and ordered to pay £350 towards the council’s investigation and legal costs. He was also ordered to pay a £38 victim surcharge.

Cllr Lauren Townsend Cabinet member for the public realm said, “CCTV is an effective tool for tackling environmental crimes such as littering, and we work in partnership with parish councils to tackle this anti-social behaviour.

“Since 1 April this year, 42 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued for fly tipping and littering offences directly as a result of CCTV evidence. Numerous other cases, including prosecutions, are in the pipeline.”

This comes after MK Council launched its new fly tipping action plan last month with an additional boost of funding to tackle fly tipping across MK.

The funding will strengthen its enforcement and education work, invest more in CCTV to catch those committing environmental crimes, give new powers to local areas for community clear outs and introduce new litter wardens with powers to issue on the spot fines, plus more besides.